This  I 


SOUTHERN    BRANCH 

VERSiTY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
LIBRARY 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIF. 


AMEEICAN   CHARITIES 


BY 

AMOS    G.   WARNER,   Ph.D. 

LATE   PKOFESSOR   OF   ECONOMICS   AXD    SOCIAL   SCIENCE   IN   THE    LELAND   STANFORD 

JTTNIOK  UNIVERSITY  ;    FORMERLY   SUPERINTENDENT   OF   CHARITIES    FOR  THE 

DISTRICT   OF   COLUMBIA,    GENERAL   AGENT   OF  THE   CHARITY 

ORGANIZATION   SOCIETY   OF   BALTIMORE  ;    ETC. 


REVISED    BT 


MARY   ROBERTS   COOLIDGE,   Ph.D. 

FORMERLY   ASSOCIATE    PROFESSOR   OP   SOCIOLOGY   IN 
THE   LELAND    STANFORD   JUNIOR   UNIVERSITY 


WITH  A   BIOGRAPHICAL  PEEFACE 
BT 

GEORGE   ELLIOTT   HOWARD,   Ph.D. 

HEAD   PROFESSOR   OF   POLITICAL   SCIENCE    AND   SOCIOLOGY   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY 
OF  NEBRASKA 


/734^ 


NEW  YORK 

THOMAS   Y.   CROWELL   &   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 

I  '  C      1908 


4  0  59 

COPTRIOHT,    1894   AND   1908, 

By  THOMAS   Y.   CliOWELL  &  COMPANY. 


PCBl.lSUED,   Sei'temhkr,   1908. 


¥2,4  a  X 


DEDICATED 

TO 

FORMERLY   CHAIRMAN   OF   THE   EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE 

OF   THE   CHARITY   ORGANIZATION   SOCIETY 

OF   BALTIMORE 


"  The  subject  has  great  attractions  :  As  science,  because  it  links 
phenomena  to  phenomena,  and  reveals  their  laws ;  as  philanthropy, 
because  the  knowledge  of  these  laws  may  be  used  as  a  weapon  to 
conquer  the  vice,  the  crime,  the  misery  which  science  investigates." 

—  Richard  L.  Dugdale. 

"  If  I  have  rightly  conceived  the  dominant  idea  of  the  modern 

philanthropy,  it   is  embodied  in  a  determination  to  seek  out  and  to 

strike  effectively  at  those  organized  forces  of  evil,  at  those  particular 

causes  of  dependence    and    intolerable    living    conditions    which    are 

beyond    the    control   of  the  individuals  whom  they  injure  and  whom 

they  too  often  destroy." 

—  Edwahd  T.  Devine. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   PREFACE. 

On  the  appearance  of  Warner's  "American  Charities"  four- 
teen years  ago,  its  unique  character  was  at  once  recognized. 
For  that  work  is  the  first  thoroughgoing  scientific  treatment 
of  the  most  difficult  and  perhaps  the  most  important  of  the 
ever  widening  group  of  sociological  arts  to  which  happily 
Professor  Henderson  has  given  the  generic  name  of  "  social 
technology."  It  possesses  an  enduring,  a  vital  quality 
which  in  the  judgment  of  scholars  has  already  won  for  it 
the  rank  of  "classic  in  philanthropy."  With  remarkable 
clearness  Dr.  Warner  perceived  the  new  dynamic  tendency 
which  was  destined  soon  to  revolutionize  economic  and 
sociological  thought.  In  the  outset  with  trenchant  phrase 
he  exposes  the  sterility  of  the  prevalent  laissez  faire  dogma. 
"  People  are  tired  of  the  gospel  of  inaction,"  he  exclaims, 
"  and  the  teacher  has  been  compelled  to  heed  their  demand 
for  guidance  in  the  doing  of  constructive  work.  .  .  .  Stu- 
dents must  be  trained  in  a  more  generous  political  economy 
than  that  of  Senior  and  Miss  IMartineau,"  if  they  are  to 
achieve  success  in  organized  philanthropy. 

Therefore  the  time  is  ripe  for  a  new  edition  of  the  "Ameri- 
can Charities."  It  is  significant  that  in  the  statement  of 
principles  no  essential  change  is  required.  The  book  de- 
serves to  be  perpetuated  because  of  its  perennial  scientific 
quality.  This  is  the  more  remarkable  considering  that  only 
two  years  ago,  in  Ward's  epoch-making  "Applied  Sociology," 
appeared  the  first  systematic  discussion  of  the  basic  law 
which  must  govern  all  wise  effort  for  social  reform.  The 
real  function  of  education,  of  opportunity,  is   now  better 


vi  BIOGRAPHICAL  PREFACE. 

understood ;  and  in  clearer  view  of  the  fact  that  intellectual 
man,  as  opposed  to  the  lower  animal,  is  capable  of  "  trans- 
forming his  environment,"  the  pitiless  and  hopeless  dogma 
of  social  laissez  /aire  is  effectually  discredited.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  statistics,  illustrations,  and  other  details 
have  required  many  additions  and  a  thorough  revision. 
During  the  decade  and  a  half  since  Warner  wrote,  an  im- 
mense mass  of  work  in  special  lines  has  been  done.  Almost 
every  month  adds  to  the  number  of  organizations  and  swells 
the  volume  of  technical  or  popular  literature  devoted  to 
social  self-help  in  its  many  related  forms.  Moreover,  if 
there  is  need  of  putting  the  book  abreast  of  the  available 
materials,  in  a  few  cases  there  has  been  a  decided  change 
of  public  attitude  which  likewise  demands  recognition. 
This  is  true,  notably,  regarding  the  causes  of  poverty. 
"  What  Warner  wrote  on  the  causes  of  poverty,"  suggests 
the  editor,  "  is  now  accepted  as  the  best  statement  so  far 
as  it  goes ;  but  the  discussion  now  centres  around  the 
standard  of  living." 

In  every  way  it  is  fortunate  that  Mrs.  Coolidge  has 
accepted  the  call  to  prepare  the  second  edition  of  this 
standard  work.  It  is  fitting  that  the  pupil,  colleague,  and 
friend  of  the  author  should  take  his  place.  By  professional 
training  and  experience  she  is  admirably  equipped  for  the 
successful  discharge  of  a  public  service  which  her  relations 
with  the  author  and  his  family  must  make  a  loving  duty. 
After  gaining  valuable  experience  as  teacher  at  Wellesley 
College,  Mrs.  Coolidge  comi)leted  her  academic  training  at 
Stanford,  where  Warner  was  then  head  of  the  department 
of  economics.  Under  his  direction,  she  studied  for  a  year 
or  more  before  taking  her  doctorate  in  practical  sociology. 
This  led  to  her  being  asked  to  undertake  the  course  in 
charities  when,  on  account  of  illness,  Warner  was  com- 
pelled to  give  n\)  his  university  duties.  Afterwards  she 
studied  in  the  School   of  Philanthropy  in  New  York,  did 


BIOGRAPHICAL  PREFACE.  Vll 

some  practical  charity  work  in  that  city,  became  closely 
connected  with  the  Associated  Charities  of  San  Francisco, 
and  gave  the  courses  in  Charities,  Penology,  the  Family, 
and  Race  Problems  at  Stanford  from  1897  to  1904.  In 
1906-1907  she  acted  as  head  of  the  South  Park  Settlement 
in  San  Francisco,  while  also  taking  part  in  the  charity 
movements  there.  It  is  proper,  likewise,  to  mention  the 
more  important  of  Dr.  Coolidge's  own  published  writings. 
Her  monograph  on  "  Almshouse  Women  "  (1895),  her  study 
of  the  "Statistics  of  College  and  Non-College  Women" 
(1901),  and  her  book  on  the  "  History  of  Chinese  Immigra- 
tion" (1908)  afford  ample  evidence  of  her  literary  and 
scientific  powers.  In  preparing  the  original  edition  of  the 
"American  Charities,"  she  aided  Professor  Warner  in  read- 
ing proof,  verifying  materials,  and  in  making  suggestions 
upon  the  last  few  chapters.  Furthermore,  before  his  death 
Warner  expressed  the  wish  that  should  the  book  ever  go  to 
a  second  edition  Mrs.  Coolidge  might  be  asked  to  revise  it. 

Amos  Griswold  Warner  was  born  at  Elkader,  Iowa, 
December  21,  1861.  Three  months  earlier  his  father,  a 
physician,  had  been  instantly  killed  in  an  accident  while 
returning  from  a  professional  visit.  The  son's  salient  traits 
of  mind  and  character  may  readily  be  traced  in  those  of 
his  parents.  The  father,  Dr.  Amos  Warner,  was  endowed 
with  sound  common  sense  and  discriminating  judgment. 
With  independence  of  thought  and  great  tenacity  of  opinion, 
he  combined  the  happy  faculty  of  winning  friendship  and 
of  strongly  attaching  his  friends  to  himself.  These  char- 
acteristics were  enhanced  in  the  son  by  the  rich  legacy 
which  he  inherited  from  his  gifted  mother.  Mrs.  Esther 
Carter  Warner  was  a  woman  of  rare  strength  and  beauty 
of  character.  According  to  a  friend  who  knew  her  for 
twenty  years,  "she  was  kindly  and  sympathetic,  cheerful 
and  active,  tolerant,  intelligent,  firm  and  uncompromising 


vili  BIOGRAPHICAL  PREFACE. 

when  principle  was  at  stake,  strong  in  body  and  in  mind."  ^ 
She  was  of  the  best  material  of  which  builders  of  new  states 
are  made ;  and  her  active  interest  in  the  great  moral  and 
social  movements  of  the  day  was  maintained  almost  to  the 
time  of  her  death,  in  1901,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 

In  1864:  the  mother,  with  her  four  children,  removed  to 
the  Territory  of  Nebraska,  settling  on  a  "  homestead  "  near 
the  present  village  of  Roca,  some  twelve  miles  south  of  the 
plain  on  which  Lincoln,  the  capital  of  the  state,  now  stands. 
Here  Warner  grew  to  young  manhood,  gained  a  fair  com- 
mon school  training,  and  conceived  for  country  life  the 
passionate  fondness  which  he  never  lost.  In  1878  he  en- 
tered the  preparatory  department  of  the  University  of 
Nebraska.  Outwardly,  he  was  then  a  typical  farmer  lad : 
awkward  of  manner,  his  face  tanned  and  freckled  by 
exposure  to  sun  and  wind,  his  clothes  of  the  severest 
country  type.  Yet  soon  it  was  perceived  by  us  all  that 
a  rare  mind  had  come  among  us.  The  enthusiastic  youth 
threw  himself  heart  and  brain  into  all  the  larger  and  nobler 
activities  which  make  up  the  modern  academic  life.  He 
found  himself  citizen  of  a  democratic  society  —  a  microcosm 
of  the  larger  world  beyond  —  in  which  he  might  enjoy  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  a  full  franchise.  He  soon  became 
a  leader  in  student  affairs  —  a  pioneer  in  the  upbuilding  of 
collegiate  institutions.  Very  important  for  him  is  the  part 
which  a  youth  takes  in  the  making  of  the  institutions  which 
form  the  academic  life.  As  he  is  strong  or  weak  in  that 
life,  so  is  he  likely  to  be  in  the  future  civic  life.  In  many 
directions  Warner  made  his  influence  felt,  and  always  in 
a  wholesome  way,  on  the  institutional  growth  of  the  Uni- 
versity. In  debate,  on  the  college  press,  in  the  daily  routine 
of  the  classroom,  he  bore  his  part  ably  and  modestly  as 
became  the  future  leader  of  men. 

To  the  discerning  eye,  Warner's  work  in  college  bore  the 
1  Prufessor  Luurence  Fussier,  in  his  Wuruer  memorial  address. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  PREFACE.  ix 

stamp  of  originality;  but  in  the  conventional  sense  he  was 
not  brilliant.  Instead  of  aiming  at  uniform  excellence  in 
all  his  studies,  he  preferred  to  dwell  upon  those  which 
appealed  to  him  as  most  fruitful  and  most  inspiring.  His 
mind  refused  to  be  hampered  by  the  shackles  of  routine. 
"  His  powers  of  concentration  were  great,"  writes  one  who 
was  successively  fellow-student,  teacher,  and  colleague; 
"  but  he  looked  for  the  main  point  only  —  the  central  idea. 
He  wasted  little  time  on  non-essentials  or  on  useless  details. 
Yet  it  would  be  an  error  to  conclude  that  he  did  not  master 
details  when  necessary  ;  but  for  him  they  were  only  a  means 
to  an  end.  This  power  of  discrimination  between  the  im- 
portant and  the  non-essential  was  one  of  the  most  charac- 
teristic traits  of  his  genius.  Strength  and  initiative  marked 
his  student  career,  rather  than  technical  scholarship."  ^ 

Warner  had  a  delicate  sense  of  humor  which  has  seldom 
been  equalled.  In  later  years  it  gave  a  pungent  flavor  to 
his  speech  and  writing.  In  his  student  days  it  made  him 
a  leader  in  college  fun  —  in  true  college  fun ;  the  kind 
which  gives  free  expression  to  the  joy  and  good-will  of  a 
manly  but  gentle  soul  never  unmindful  of  the  rights  or  the 
feelings  of  others.  He  was  not  found  among  those  who,  in 
the  name  of  a  college  joke,  delight  in  tormenting  persons 
mentally  or  physically  weaker  than  themselves ;  nor  among 
those  whose  only  claim  to  academic  distinction  is  the  wear- 
ing of  good  clothes ;  nor  among  those  who  seek  a  reputation 
for  "  manliness  "  by  venturing  on  forbidden  paths. 

In  another  way  Warner's  originality  and  strength  of 
character  were  disclosed.  It  was  not  his  early  purpose  to 
enter  on  one  of  the  so-called  "higher"  professions.  He 
had  decided  to  graduate  and  then  to  carry  the  culture  which 
he  had  gained  into  a  farmer's  life.  Only  in  his  senior  year, 
apparently,  was  this  purpose  given  up.  He  then  became 
deeply  interested  in  historical  studies.     The  influence  which 

1  Professor  H.  W.  Caldwell,  on  Warner,  "  The  Teiuher  and  Scholar." 


X  BIOGRAPHICAL  PREFACE. 

definitively  fixed  his  growing  inclination  to  prepare  himself 
for  a  scholar's  career  came  to  him  through  a  piece  of  research 
work  done  in  connection  with  a  course  of  study  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  French  Revolution.  His  thesis  on  the  "  Causes 
of  the  Jacobin  Conquest"  led  him  on  to  further  mental 
achievement. 

Accordingly,  in  the  autumn  of  1885,  —  three  months  after 
taking  the  bachelor's  degree,  —  he  entered  the  Johns  Hop- 
kins University  as  a  graduate  student  in  economics.  Very 
soon,  among  the  thirty  or  forty  men  gathered  around  the 
seminary  table,  by  common  consent  Warner  was  cheerfully 
conceded  the  first  rank.^  His  unusual  success  won  for  him 
a  fellowship  at  the  close  of  the  first  year  of  study.  A  few 
months  later,  in  the  beginning  of  1887,  —  with  more  than 
a  year's  work  yet  to  do  before  reaching  the  doctorate,  —  he 
received  his  first  call  to  public  service.  One  Sunday  a 
characteristic  address  on  some  social  problem  attracted  the 
notice  of  Mr.  John  Glenn,  member  of  an  old  Maryland 
family,  and  deeply  interested  in  practical  philanthropy. 
As  a  result,  Warner  accepted  an  invitation  to  become  the 
General  Secretary  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  of  Bal- 
timore. The  plough-boy  of  Roca  undertook  this  extremely 
difficult  social  service  for  the  Southern  metropolis,  and 
he  discharged  his  task  with  conspicuous  success.  His  work 
drew  the  attention  of  the  philanthropists  of  the  entire 
country.  His  was  essentially  the  creative  task  of  a  pioneer. 
An  effective  organization  was  developed.  "  He  did  not 
confine  himself  entirely  to  the  sifting  of  the  honest  and 
deserving  paupers  from  among  the  more  numerous  frauds," 
—  for  he  drove  vagrants  from  the  city,  —  "but  he  became 
a  student  of  the  problems  involved  in  pauperism,  writing 
much  and  speaking  frequently  of  his  conclusions."  ^  In  the 
work  of  the  Society  he  remained  until  the  summer  of  1889, 

1  According  to  the  testimony  of  a  fellow-stmient,  Judge  Lincoln  Frost. 
3  Judge  Lincoln  Frost,  ou  Warner,  "  The  Graduate." 


BIOGRAPHICAL   PREFACE.  xi 

the  year  after  he  had  taken  the  Ph.D.  degree.  Meantime, 
through  mutual  respect  and  admiration,  Warner  and  Glenn 
had  become  fast  friends.  At  the  latter's  instance,  the 
General  Secretary  was  permitted  to  name  his  own  suc- 
cessor; and,  equally  significant,  the  "American  Charities"  is 
dedicated  to  "  Mr.  John  Glenn,  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  of  Balti- 
more." "While  he  was  secretary,"  declared  the  Society 
after  Warner's  death,  "  a  great  impetus  was  given  to  our 
work ;  and  the  progress  made  since  his  departure  is  largely 
due  to  the  foundation  laid  by  his  good  sense,  energy,  and 
devotion." 

Now  came  his  first  call  to  teach.  In  September,  1889,  as 
associate  professor,  Warner  was  placed  in  charge  of  the 
department  of  economics  in  the  University  of  Nebraska. 
During  the  two  years  that  he  held  this  chair,  he  gave  abun- 
dant proof  of  his  originality  of  mind  and  of  his  extraordi- 
nary power  as  a  teacher.  He  developed  his  course  in  the 
scientific  study  of  industrial  corporations  —  the  first  ever 
offered  in  an  American  university.  His  strength  as  a  teacher 
was  displayed,  not  so  much  in  the  ordinary  routine  of 
didactic  instruction,  but  chiefly  in  the  promotion  of  original 
research.  Hence  his  personality  and  his  methods  appealed 
most  powerfully  to  the  graduate  students  of  his  seminary, 
where  his  alert  and  fertile  mind  fairly  teemed  with  inspir- 
ing hints  and  with  fruitful  subjects  for  investigation.  In 
harmony  with  this  view  is  the  judgment  of  Professor  Edward 
Alsworth  Koss,  his  colleague  in  the  department  of  econo- 
mics at  Stanford.  As  evidenced  by  his  writings,  "Dr. 
Warner  had  the  pioneering  mind."  His  "  teaching,  too, 
was  original.  He  loved  to  cut  loose  from  texts  and  get 
at  things.  He  had  his  students  visit  jails,  almshouses  and 
asylums,  police  courts  and  city  halls,  that  they  might  see 
and  judge  for  themselves.  In  these  first-hand  investiga- 
tions and  reports,  his  students  developed  a  power  they  will 


xii  BIOGRAPHICAL  PREFACE. 

never  lose.  All  who  came  near  Dr.  "Warner  felt  the  bracing 
ozoue  of  his  great  common  sense.  Life  on  the  farm  had 
given  him  an  instinct  for  reality  which  no  doctrinaire  could 
destroy.  He  was  of  the  new  victorious  younger  school  of 
economists,  and  in  his  hands  economics  never  became  life- 
less or  dismal.  In  a  day  when  isms  were  more  rife  than 
they  are  now,  he  kept  his  head  clear  and  sent  folly  flying 
with  a  homely  illustration  or  a  pungent  epigram."  ^ 

Then  followed  the  second  and  most  important  call  to 
public  service.  In  1891  he  was  selected  by  President  Har- 
rison to  become  the  first  Superintendent  of  Charities  for 
the  District  of  Columbia  under  the  act  which  Congress  had 
recently  passed.  The  appointment  Avas  in  no  sense  politi- 
cal. In  fact  it  was  opposed  by  both  senators  from  Ne- 
braska, who  desired  the  office  as  a  ''plum"  for  an  "old 
soldier"  of  their  party.  Through  the  influence  of  such 
men  as  John  Glenn,  Professor  Ely,  President  Gilnian,  and 
Senator  Dawes,  the  place  came  to  him  in  recognition  of 
the  preeminent  fitness  which  his  administration  of  the 
charities  of  Baltimore  had  disclosed.'^  It  was  a  post  de- 
manding hard  work,  signal  ability,  and  rare  tact  in  the 
management  of  men.  The  charities  of  the  District  were 
in  a  chaotic  condition.  The  appropriations  of  Congress 
were  distributed  in  a  haphazard  and  ineffective  way  among 
a  number  of  ecclesiastical  and  private  philanthropic  insti- 
tutions. Any  plan  of  the  superintendent  to  apportion 
equitably  and  scientifically  the  funds  hereafter  to  be  pro- 

1  Ross,  in  the  Charities  Review,  x.  (March,  1900),  p.  1. 

2  "  Our  friend,  who  was  not  an  applicant  for  the  place  and  merely  knew 
that  his  name  was  on  file  with  the  President,  was  awiikened  at  midnight 
one  night  and  came  down  town  to  read  the  press  despatch  telling  of  his 
appointment.  He  took  it  witli  his  usual  calmness,  hut  with  a  little  more 
than  his  usual  seriousness.  The  surprise  did  not  throw  him  off  his  balance 
in  the  least.  He  saw  not  the  honor  that  had  come  to  him,  hut  the  respon- 
Bibility.  His  thought  was  not  of  elation,  but  of  determination  to  suc- 
ceed."—  Will  Owen  Jones,  on  Warner,  "  The  Friend." 


BIOGRAPHICAL   PREFACE.  xiil 

vided  by  Congress  was  sure  to  provoke  selfish  opposition. 
A  powerful  hostile  lobby  had  to  be  overcome.  How  all 
difficulties  eventually  were  surmounted  and  the  great  task 
of  carrying  out  the  design  of  the  federal  statute  finally  was 
accomplished  cannot  here  be  described.  It  must  suffice 
to  say  that  the  suggestions  regarding  the  details  of  organiza- 
tion and  the  appropriations  of  money  submitted  in  Warner's 
two  special  reports  were  adopted  and  put  in  force  by  Con- 
gress ;  and  thus  a  model  system  of  organized  charities  was 
created  for  the  national  capital.  Meantime  he  had  achieved 
a  supplementary  w^ork  of  great  social  value  to  the  city. 
At  his  instance  Congress  had  been  induced  to  found  a 
Board  of  Children's  Guardians,  an  institution  only  second 
in  importance  to  the  charity  organization  itself. 

Warner's  second  call  to  teach  came  from  Stanford  Uni- 
versity in  1893,  two  years  before  his  term  as  superintendent 
had  expired.  While  serving  the  government  in  Washing- 
ington,  he  told  the  writer  that  he  had  decided  not  to  take 
up  professional  academic  work  again.  The  influence  which 
changed  his  mind  and  determined  his  comiug  to  Stanford 
was  the  gift  to  that  institution  of  the  Hopkins  Eailway 
Library.  Warner  was  deeply  interested  in  railroad  prob- 
lems, as  he  was  in  all  questions  connected  with  industrial 
corporations;  and  now  he  saw  an  opportunity  for  a  new 
institution  —  a  railway  school  of  unique  character,  one 
whose  curriculum  should  comprehend  not  merely  financial 
and  economic  problems,  but  practical  courses  in  administra- 
tion and  engineering  as  well.  Had  his  life  been  spared, 
probably  in  due  time  this  ideal  would  have  been  realized, 
and  so  Stanford  University  would  have  had  in  history  the 
distinction  of  founding  the  first  railway  school. 

But  this  was  not  to  be.  W^hen  he  began  his  work  at 
Stanford,  in  the  spring  of  1893,  his  physical  strength  was 
already  impaired  by  too  strenuous  labors  in  Washington. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  academic  year,  in  1894,  he  wrote 


xiv  BIOGRAPHICAL  PREFACE. 

the  "  American  Charities."  It  was  a  fatal  tour  de  form. 
Although  in  large  measure  the  fruit  of  years  of  thought 
and  experience,  in  its  published  form  it  was  struck  off  in 
a  very  few  weeks  of  incessant  toil.  Under  this  fearful 
strain  his  constitution  began  to  yield,  and  during  the  en- 
suing summer  its  ruin  was  made  complete  through  the 
exposure  endured  in  an  outing  trip.  In  November,  1894, 
under  his  physician's  advice,  he  gave  up  teaching  and  began 
what  proved  to  be  five  years'  vain  search  for  health.  The 
pathetic  story  of  that  heroic  struggle  is  known  and  need  be 
known  only  to  his  dearest  friends.  More  and  more  brightly 
shone  out  the  nobility  of  his  character.  Bravely  and  cheer- 
fully he  faced  the  inevitable,  while  always  he  was  accom- 
panied and  cherished  by  his  wise  and  courageous  wife. 
His  mind  was  ever  busy  with  the  great  social  problems 
which  filled  his  intellectual  life ;  and  during  much  of  this 
period  his  family  was  supported  on  the  money  earned  by 
his  remarkable  articles  in  the  Record  and  Guide.  In  the 
fall  of  1897  he  ventured  to  return  to  Stanford  in  the  hope 
of  taking  up  his  teaching  work  again.  The  hope  was  vain ; 
although  it  was  at  this  time  that  he  wrote  and  delivered 
those  "  Lay  Sermons  "  in  which  so  clearly  his  white  soul  is 
revealed.  The  end  came  after  three  more  years  of  waiting 
and  wandering.  He  died  at  Las  Cruces,  New  Mexico, 
January  17,  1900.  "Now  he  lies  in  the  soil  of  his  dear 
Nebraska,  on  a  beautiful  hill  overlooking  the  little  village 
of  Roca  and  the  broad  valley  and  prairies  beyond."  ^ 

On  the  fifth  day  of  September,  1888,  Warner  married 
Miss  Cora  Ellen  Fisher,  an  alumna  of  his  alma  mater.  Two 
children,  a  girl  and  a  boy,  were  born  of  their  marriage. 
The  wife  and  children  are  still  living. 

It  would  perhaps  be  misleading  to  assert  that  in  the  mere 
volume  of  his  writings  Warner's  short  life  was  uniquely 
productive  as  compared  with  other  scholars  of  the  first  rank, 

1  Professor  Laurence  Fossler,  in  his  Warner  memorial  address. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  PREFACE.  XV 

Yet  his  published  bibliography,'  though  not  exhaustive, 
shows  that  his  pen  was  ever  busy  with  helpful  work.  His 
reputation  as  an  author  and  as  a  constructive  scientific 
thinker  must,  of  course,  always  rest  chiefly  on  the  "American 
Charities."  Still,  many  of  his  minor  papers  and  monographs 
are  of  distinct  and  lasting  value.  They  hold  an  honorable 
place  in  the  literature  of  the  new  dynamic  economics  and 
in  that  of  the  new  scientific  philanthropy.  Ever  Warner 
had  an  eye  on  the  practical,  striving  to  render  science  help- 
ful to  men.  His  thought  is  pervaded  by  the  spiritual  utili- 
tarianism which  is  the  mark  of  the  fruitful  scholarship  of 
the  modern  age. 

Among  the  writings  of  the  formative  period  of  his  uni- 
versity life,  giving  earnest  of  his  powers  and  displaying 
the  characteristics  of  his  style,  are  the  "  Sketches  from 
Territorial  History"  (in  Transactions  and  Reports  of  the 
Nebraska  State  Historical  Society,  1887,  ii.,  18-63),  an  en- 
lightening discussion  from  the  sources  of  the  episode  of 
"wild-cat  banks"  and  of  some  other  incidents  of  Nebraska 
frontier  days ;  and  the  "  Three  Phases  of  Cooperation  in 
the  West,"  published  by  the  Johns  Hopkins  University 
in  the  useful  pioneer  volume  devoted  to  the  "  History  of 
Cooperation  in  the  United  States  "  (Studies,  1888,  vi.,  363- 
439).  Perhaps  the  best  examples  of  his  utilitarian  handling 
of  scientific  problems  are  "  Some  Experiments  on  Behalf 
of  the  Unemployed "  (in  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics, 
October,  1890),  and  "  Kail  way  Problems  in  a  Western  State  " 
(in  Political  Science  Quarterly,  March,  1891).  The  last- 
named  paper  is  still  the  only  helpful  discussion  of  the  early 
phase  of  railroad  building  in  Nebraska  through  the  aid  of 
subsidies  supplied  by  local  taxation.  It  is  fitting  also 
to  emphasize  the  "  Economic  Notes  regarding  Luxury  "  (in 
A.A.A.S.,   1889,  xxxviii.,) ;   for,  although  during  the  two 

1  Appended  to  the  "  Lay  Sermons  "  (1904),  67-70;  also  in  Johns  Hopkins 
University  Studies  (1904),  xxii.,  481-484. 


xvi  BIOGRAPHICAL  PREFACE. 

decades  -which  have  since  elapsed  the  meaning  of  luxury 
among  human  wants  considered  as  social  forces  has  become 
more  and  more  important  as  a  factor  in  the  problem  of 
social  evolution,  Warner's  luminous  discussion  remains  one 
of  the  most  helpful  which  the  sociological  student  can  take 
in  hand.  Nor  should  the  hundred  unsigned  editorials  con- 
tributed to  the  Kew  York  Record  and  Guide  be  overlooked.^ 
Many  of  these  were  produced,  partly  in  solution  of  the 
bread-and-butter  question,  during  that  long  and  tragic 
grapple  with  the  dread  disease.  They  teem  with  the  wise 
and  brave  thoughts  of  a  sane  and  well-filled  mind.  Often 
written  when  the  author  was  far  away  from  books,  yet 
always  the  subject  is  handled  with  a  firm  grasp.  More- 
over, there  was  no  dearth  of  topics ;  for  upon  his  eager  and 
open  mind  ever  crowded  more  themes  than  his  bi-weekly 
manuscript  could  compass. 

The  four  "  Lay  Sermons  "  (Johns  Hopkins  University, 
1904),  with  a  bibliography  and  an  introductory  biographical 
sketch,  were  published  as  a  memorial  by  his  friends.  These 
sermons  were  delivered  at  Stanford  University  in  the  autumn 
of  1897,  and  the  author  must  have  felt  they  were  a  fare- 
well message  to  his  students.  They  are  indeed  a  precious 
legacy  from  a  teacher  whose  daily  life  was  a  sermon  inspir- 
ing to  noble  effort.  His  character  expresses  the  ethical 
value  of  the  clean-hearted,  single-minded,  brave,  and  cul- 
tured teacher.  "Others  have  spoken  of  the  justness  of  his 
judgments,"  exclaims  Professor  Charles  Newton  Little;  "  to 
me  he  was  the  sane  man  always."  To  the  present  writer, 
who  had  the  honor  of  being  counted  among  his  teachers,  his 
colleagues,  and  his  intimate  friends,  there  is  no  more  inspir- 
ing lesson  than  that  afforded  by  the  brief  career  of  Amos 
Griswold  Warner.  Behold  the  country  lad  as  he  swiftly 
rises  to  the  highest   academic  honors !     See  him  as  with 

1  Only  about  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  these  articles  are  listed 
in  the  printed  bibliography. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   PREFACE.  xvil 

master  hand  he  skilfully  grapples  with  the  hard  social  prob- 
lems of  two  great  cities  !  lu  his  "  American  Charities  "  he 
laid  the  lasting  foundation  of  a  science,  while  in  his  course 
on  Industrial  Corj)orations  he  organized  an  important  branch 
of  another.  But  there  is  something  more  precious  than  all 
these  things :  the  influence  for  social  righteousness  ever 
reflected  from  his  pure  heart  and  lofty  mind.  One  may 
compare  it  in  its  results  to  a  diamond  cast  into  the  water. 
The  circling  waves  of  moral  and  intellectual  influence  recede 
and  spread  away  until  they  break  on  the  uttermost  shores 

of  time. 

GEORGE   ELLIOTT   HOWARD. 

University  of  Nebraska, 
July  1,  1908. 


REVISER'S  NOTE. 

Warner's  "Charities"  was  the  first  attempt  to  cover  sys- 
tematically the  field  of  American  charities  and  to  formulate, 
at  the  same  time,  the  principles  of  relief  which  had  been 
evolved  from  a  century  of  benevolence.  Since  it  was  writ- 
ten,—  and,  in  part,  because  it  was  written,  —  the  horizon 
of  charities  has  immensely  widened ;  many  valuable  books 
dealing  with  special  lines  of  charity  have  been  published, 
and  a  few,  from  different  points  of  view,  have  treated  the 
same  subjects. 

In  bringing  the  book  down  to  date,  the  reviser  has  been 
careful  not  to  alter  the  distinctive  color  which  Professor 
Warner  gave  to  his  book  and  which  constitutes  its  chief 
value  and  charm.  Nor  has  there  been  occasion,  except  in 
a  few  instances,  to  restate  the  principles  laid  down  by  him. 
Warner  saw  what  was  permanent  and  vital,  but  the  devel- 
opments of  the  past  fifteen  years  have  made  it  necessary 
to  insert  a  wholly  new  chapter  on  the  Facts  and  Conditions 
of  Poverty,  in  order  to  round  out  his  discussion  of  the 
causes  of  poverty  in  a  direction  for  which  no  material  of 
record  existed  when  he  wrote. 

This  second  edition  is  re-dedicated  to  Professor  Warner, 
in  acknowledgment  of  the  debt  which  the  reviser  owes  to 
him  as  a  student,  and  in  the  hope  that  with  it  his  influence 
upon  American  charity  will  be  perpetuated. 


^ix 


o^iAiE  NORMAL  SCHOOL, 

UOS  HnOBUBS,  Cflll, 


CONTENTS. 

Part  I. 
HISTORICAL   AND   THEORETICAL. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Philanthropy  axd  the  Sciences  .....  3 

II.  Causes  of  Poverty          .......  33 

III.  Symptomatic  Causes  of  Degeneration         ...  66 

IV.  Some    Characteristic   Social  Causes   of   Degenera- 

tion     ..........     115 

V.     Facts  and  Conditions  of  Poverty        ....     149 

Part  II. 

THE   DEPENDENT   CLASSES. 

VI.  The  Almshouse  and  its  Inmates  .         .         .         »         .  195 

VII.  Public  Relief  of  the  Poor  in  their  Homes      .         .  226 

VIII.  The  Unemployed  and  the  Homeless  Poor          .  ^     ,  244 

IX.  Dependent  Children      .......  263 

X.  The  Destitute  Sick 297 

XI.  The  Insane      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .317 

XII.  The  Feeble-minded,  Epileptic,  and  Inebriate  .         .  336 

XIII.  Further  Differentiation  and  Summary     .         .         .  354 

Part  III. 

ADMINISTRATION   AND   FINANCIERING. 

XIV.  Public  Charities    ........     363 

XV.     Private  Charities  ...  ....     377 

xxi 


Xxil  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVI.     Endom'ments 389 

XVII.  Public  Subsidies  to  Private  Charities    .         .         .  399 


Part  IV. 

THE   SUPERVISION,    ORGANIZATION,    AND 
BETTERMENT   OF   CHARITIES. 

XVIII.     Agekcies  for  Supervision  and  Control  .        .        .     423 

XIX.     The  Charity  Organization  Movement      .         .         .     437 

XX.     The  Trend  of  Modern  Charitt         ....     457 

Bibliography       ..........     467 

Index 495 


PART    I. 
HISTORICAL  AND   THEORETICAL. 


PART   I. 

HISTORICAL   AND   THEORETICAL. 


CHAPTER   I. 


PHILANTHROPY   AND   THE  SCIENCES. 

The  science  of  political  economy,  as  we  know  it,  is  hardly 
more  than  a  century  old ;  while  the  art  of  aiding  the  poor 
has  been  practised  from  time  immemorial.  When  the 
patriarch  Job  was  justifying  himself,  he  spoke  of  his  work 
for  the  unfortunate  in  language  which  is  still  considered 
suitable  for  describing  an  ideal  philanthropist,  and  which  in 
part  is  now  used  as  a  motto  by  several  charity  organiza- 
tion societies.^  Before  Christianity  was  a  power,  and  far 
beyond  the  influence  of  the  Hebrew  faith,  the  instinct  of 
sympathy  for  those  in  distress  prompted  to  kindly  acts 
which  philosophers  commended  and  religious  leaders  en- 
joined. An  imposing  array  of  texts  exhorting  to  charity, 
and  prescribing  the  methods  of  it,  may  be  gleaned  from  the 
pagan  writers  of  antiquity.  The  beggar  is  known  to  almost 
all  literatures  with  which  we  are  acquainted ;  and  where 
beggars  are,  there  must  also  be  those  that  give.  In  China, 
long  before  the  Christian  era,  there  were  refuges  for  the 
aged  and  sick  poor,  free  schools  for  poor  children,  free 
eating-houses  for  wearied  laborers,  associations  for  the  dis- 

1 "  When  the  ear  heard  me,  then  it  blessed  me ;  and  when  the  eye  saw 
me,  it  gave  witness  to  me:  because  I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  and 
the  fatherless,  and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him.  The  blessing  of  him 
that  was  ready  to  perish  Ctame  upon  me:  and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart 
to  sing  for  joy.  ...  I  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame. 
I  was  a  father  to  the  poor :  and  the  cause  which  I  knew  not  I  searched  out." 

3 


4  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

tribution  of  second-hand  clothing,  and  societies  for  paying 
the  expenses  of  marriage  and  burial  among  the  poor.^ 

Intermittently  from  the  first,  the  altruistic  instinct 
seems  to  have  been  reeuforced,  or  its  acts  counterfeited, 
by  egoistic  instincts,  originating  in  educational,  or  political, 
or  religious  considerations.  The  first  of  these  subsidiary 
motives  was  doubtless  the  weakest  of  the  three.  The  desire 
to  promote  self-culture  by  development  of  the  benevolent 
impulses  is  largely  a  modern  form  of  selfishness,  and  yet 
we  find  traces  of  it  among  the  ancients. 

Formerly,  as  now,  political  considerations  frequently  led 
to  acts  of  charity  when  the  motive  was  absent.  Free  or 
greatly  cheapened  corn  for  the  Roman  people,  though  nomi- 
nally only  rendering  to  them  what  was  their  own,  was, 
in  fact,  a  mischievous  gratuity;  and  while  sympathy  for 
the  people  undoubtedly  actuated  many  who  favored  the 
largesses,  yet  the  efficient  cause  of  their  continual  increase 
was  political  self-seeking.^  So  the  legislation  for  the  better 
care  of  exposed  infants,  and  for  the  support  of  young  Avomen 
with  children  (Puellae  Faustinianae),  of  the  later  Roman 
Empire  resulted  partly  from  sympathy  for  tlie  unfortunates, 
and  largely  from  a  wish  to  fill  up  the  depleted  ranks  of  the 
Roman  and  Italian  population. 

The  commonest  and  most  powerful  incentive  to  benevo- 
lence has  been  everywhere  and  at  all  times  that  supplied 
by  religion.  Any  impulse  or  habit  that  is  for  the  good  of 
the  race  is  likely  in  the  course  of  time  to  be  fixed  and 
intensified  by  religious  sanctions.  Almost  all  customs,  in- 
cluding the  organization  of  the  family  and  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  even  habits  of  dress,  diet,  and  cleanliness,  have 

^  See  Crooker,  "  Problems  in  American  Society,"  chapter  on  "  Scientific 
Charity,"  for  this  and  other  references  to  antiquity. 

2  The  indiscriminate  granting  of  pensions  to  the  Union  soldiers  of  the 
Civil  War  results  from  tlie  same  mixed  motives,  among  which  political 
considerations  are  the  final  and  efficient  cause  of  mischievously  reckless 
disbursements. 


PHILANTHROPY  AND   THE  SCIENCES.  5 

been  thus  confirmed.  For  present  purposes  we  need  not 
bother  ourselves  with  teleological  considerations,  nor  inquire 
whether  the  useful  impulses  and  habits  originated  in  a 
divine  command  supernaturally  revealed,  or  whether  they 
had  their  origin  in  spontaneous  variation  or  rational  adap- 
tation, and  were  then  seized  upon,  and  perpetuated  by  the 
religious  instincts.  To  whatever  source  we  may  trace  the 
sentiment  of  pity  and  the  desire  to  relieve  the  destitute,  it 
certainly  had  not  been  in  existence  long  before  its  cultiva- 
tion was  enjoined  by  religious  authority. 

Religion,  however,  like  the  subsidiary  motives  based  on 
educational  or  political  considerations,  has  too  frequently 
substituted  self-seeking  for  self-sacrifice  as  the  motive  power 
in  aiding  the  poor.  Mr.  Crooker  well  says  that  the  charity 
of  antiquity  was  very  largely  "  a  means  of  obtaining  merit." 
"  The  riches  of  the  infinite  God,"  says  the  Vendidad,  "will 
be  bestowed  upon  him  who  relieves  the  poor  ;  "  or,  according 
to  a  Hindu  epic,  "  He  who  giveth  without  stint  food  to  a 
fatigued  wayfarer,  never  seen  before,  obtaineth  merit  that 
is  great."  It  was  when  Job  was  justifying  himself  that  he 
enumerated  his  works  of  mercy. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  rewards  were  offered  for  benevo- 
lent work,  punishments  were  promised  for  hard-heartedness. 
The  grim  threat  of  the  Talmud,  "  The  house  that  does  not 
open  to  the  poor  shall  open  to  the  physician,"  is  typical  of 
many  passages  that  might  be  quoted  from  the  earlier  reli- 
gious writings.  Under  the  influence  of  such  threats  or  of 
more  direct  ones,  believers  felt  constrained  to  aid  the  poor 
for  purely  selfish  reasons,  to  do  some  overt  act  that  seemed 
to  have  been  prescribed,  in  order  that  it  might  be  accounted 
to  them  for  righteousness.  Subjectively  considered,  the  act 
itself  was  not  one  of  charity,  but  of  penance ;  its  motive  was 
not  a  desire  to  aid  the  distressed,  but  to  propitiate  a  more 
or  less  unreasonable  deity  or  fate. 

The  influence  of  religion  upon  the  benevolent  instincts  of 


6  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

man  can  be  studied  in  nearly  all  its  phases  in  the  history 
of  charities  administered  by  the  Christian  church ;  and  in 
that  history  can  be  traced  the  power  of  an  accepted  theol- 
ogy both  to  exalt  and  to  degrade  the  charitable  impulse. 
MVhile  the  antiquarian  may  be  able  to  point  out  many  traces 
of  active  beuevolence  before  the  Christian  era,  while  there 
is  much  genuine  philanthropy  outside  of  Christianity,  and 
while  it  may  even  be  said  that  the  church  of  the  present 
day  that  administers  its  charities  most  wisely  is  not  Chris- 
tian at  all,  but  Jewish,  —  it  yet  remains  true  that  charity, 
as  we  know  it,  gets  its  chief  religious  sanction  and  incentive 
from  Him  who  gave  as  the  summary  of  all  the  law  and 
prophets  the  coordinate  commands  to  love  God  and  to  love 
our  neighbor,  and  who,  in  explaining  these  commands,  pro- 
nounced the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan/  At  first, 
Christianity  brought  to  the  world  a  purified  and  enno- 
bled charity,  a  love  of  fellow-men  very  different  from 
the  semi-selfish  motives  that  prompted  to  prayer,  penance, 
and  almsgiving  as  means  to  a  common  end — that  of  se- 
curing divine  favor.  The  diaconate  of  the  early  church 
seems  to  have  been  a  satisfactory  way  of  organizing  what 
is  now  called  "  friendly  visiting." 

But  the  voluntary  and  congregational  charity  of  the  early 
churches  before  Constantine  was  soon  replaced  by  the  med- 
iaeval ecclesiastical  methods  of  parishes,  bishops,  monas- 
teries, orders,  and  institutions,  and  with  the  worldly  success 
of  the  church  came  degeneration.^  As  the  church  became 
an  institution  administering  progressively  large  revenues, 
its  service  of  the  poor  degenerated,  partly  from  worldliness, 
and  partly  from  "other-worldliness."  Overt  worldliness, 
leading  to  the  misapplication  of  revenues  designed  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor,  sometimes  attained  great  proportions  and 
was  a  tendency  that  honest  ecclesiastics  found  it  necessary 
to  fight  continually.  But  such  palpable  evils  wrought  little 
harm,  as  compared  with  the  dry  rot  of  spiritual  selfishness, 
1  Henderson,  "  World  Currents  in  Cliarity." 


PHILANTHROPY  AND    THE   SCIENCES.  i 

which  caused  charity  to  degenerate  into  almsgiving  for  the 
benefit  of  the  one  who  gave.  The  doctrine  of  Augustine 
that  "  alms  have  power  to  extinguish  and  expiate  sin," 
though  taught  only  with  qualifications,  became  the  motive 
power  in  the  charities  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Gifts  to  the 
church  for  charitable  purposes  became  merely  a  method  of 
securing  a  satisfactory  balance  on  the  books  of  the  recording 
angel,  a  way  of  getting  one's  self  or  others  out  of  purgatory. 

As  an  agent  for  securing  gifts  both  of  property  and  of 
personal  service  the  church  was  almost  incredibly  success- 
ful. If  the  devotion  of  material  wealth  to  the  relief  of  the 
poor  could  alone  have  cured  destitution,  it  would  have  been 
cured.  But  we  are  all  familiar  with  the  disastrous  results 
that  followed  so  much  indiscriminate  giving.  A  rich  church 
among  a  multitude  of  poor,  which  Emminghaus  declares  to 
have  been  always  the  ecclesiastical  ideal,  did  not  prove  a 
satisfactory  arrangement.  When  Hubert- Valleroux,  in  dis- 
cussing the  rural  charities  of  France,  shows  that  all  the 
great  charitable  institutions  of  that  country  originally  owed 
their  existence  to  the  influence  of  Christianity  through  the 
church,  he  is  historically  correct.  But  when  he  makes  this 
statement  of  fact  the  basis  of  a  plea  for  the  non-intervention 
of  the  state  in  the  present  administration  of  charitable  in- 
stitutions, he  is  wrong ;  for  the  history  of  charitable  insti- 
tutions shows  that,  while  they  originated  through  the 
influence  of  the  church,  it  was  also  through  ecclesiastical 
influence  that  they  degenerated  and  became  mischievous. 

The  state  interfered  for  many  reasons,  some  of  them 
certainly  unworthy ;  but  one  sufficient  cause  was  everywhere 
present  —  ecclesiastical  mismanagement,  and  the  necessity 
the  community  was  under  to  protect  itself  from  the  spread- 
ing disease  of  pauperism.  ^'  In  no  case,"  says  Lecky,  "  was 
the  abolition  of  monasteries  effected  in  a  more  indefensible 
manner  than  in  England,  but  the  transfer  of  property,  that 
was  once  employed  in  a  great  measure  in  charity,  to  the 


8  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

courtiers  of  King  Henry  was  ultimately  a  benefit  to  the 
English  poor;  for  no  misapplication  of  this  property  by 
private  persons  could  produce  as  much  evil  as  an  unre- 
strained monasticism."  ^ 

In  almost  every  European  country,  the  state  first  tried 
to  stop  beggary  and  vagabondage  by  repressive  measures, 
and  only  when  these  failed  was  obliged  to  assail  the  evil  at 
one  of  its  sources  by  taking  charge  of  relief  work.  This 
work  was  taken  in  hand  by  the  state  in  Scandinavia  at  a 
very  early  period,  in  England  at  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, in  France  at  the  time  of  the  Eevolution,  and  in  Italy 
within  the  last  few  years.  In  Germany,  Luther  suggested 
that  the  church  and  state  should  work  together  to  root  out 
beggary,  and  to  lessen  as  much  as  possible  the  misery  caused 
by  destitution  and  disease.  The  religious  wars  that  followed 
the  Reformation  in  that  country  interfered  with  the  im- 
mediate transfer  of  relief  work  to  the  state.  "  The  Protes- 
tant authorities,"  says  Emminghaus,  "  were  not  more  prudent 
than  their  predecessors  where  valuable  property  of  the 
church  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  remained ;  and  wher- 
ever the  care  of  the  poor  was  still  in  ecclesiastical  hands, 
the  only  alteration  in  the  way  in  which  it  was  conducted 
arose  from  the  fact  that  the  church  had  less  abundant 
means  at  its  disposal.  But,"  he  adds,  "  this  fact  alone 
may  be  considered  a  great  gain,  for  abundance  of  means 
is  the  greatest  danger  of  all  in  the  relief  of  the  poor."^ 

From  what  has  been  said  regarding  the  failure  of  the 
church  as  an  almoner,  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  its 
influence  was  wholly  perverse  and  mischievous.  On  the 
contrary,  even  Lecky,  whose  opinion  as  to  the  good  effects 
of  the  secularization  of  the  monastic  properties  in  England 
has  been  already  noticed,  says  that  the  value  of  Catholic 
services  in  alleviating  pain  and  sickness  and  the  more  excep- 

1  "  History  of  European  Morals,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  94-95. 
8  "  Poor  Relief  in  Different  Parts  of  Europe,"  p.  13. 


PHILANTHROPY  AND    THE  SCIENCES.  » 

tional  forms  of  suffering  can  never  be  overrated ;  and  even 
in  the  field  of  cliarity  he  says :  "  We  must  not  forget  the 
benefits  resulting,  if  not  to  the  sufferer,  at  least  to  the  donor. 
Charitable  habits,  even  when  formed  in  the  first  instance 
from  selfish  motives,  even  when  so  misdirected  as  to  be 
positively  injurious  to  the  recipient,  rarely  fail  to  exercise 
a  softening  and  purifying  influence  on  character.  All 
through  the  darkest  period  of  the  Middle  Ages,  amid  feroc- 
ity and  fanaticism  and  brutality,  we  may  trace  the  subduing 
influence  of  Catholic  charity,  blending  strangely  with  every 
excess  of  violence  and  every  outburst  of  persecution."  ^  In 
fact,  the  church  educated  the  community  up  to  a  point 
where  it  insisted  that  a  large  amount  of  relief  work  must 
be  done,  and  only  in  attempting  to  administer  large  funds 
did  the  ecclesiastical  machinery  work  badly  and  break  down. 
It  was  inevitable  that  the  state  should  undertake  relief 
work,  but  that  relief  work,  and  the  great  access  of  sympathy 
for  our  fellow-men  which  compelled  it,  would  never  have 
existed  except  for  the  influence  of  the  church.  But  the 
change  from  ecclesiastical  administration  of  relief  to  ad- 
ministration by  the  state  hardly  seemed  for  a  time  to  be  an 
improvement  at  all.  In  various  parts  of  Europe  public 
charities  w^ere  at  times  as  inadequate  to  meet  the  necessities 
of  the  poor  or  to  improve  their  industrial  condition  as  those 
under  the  church  had  been.  In  England  at  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century  as  much  was  heard  of  the  failure 
of  the  poor  law  as  of  the  monastic  system  of  poor-relief. 
This  administrative  weakness  had  already  drawn  attention  to 
the  economic  aspects  of  poor-relief.  Defoe,  for  example,  in 
his  paper  on  "Giving  Alms  Xo  Charity,"  said  that  the  reason 
why  so  many  pretended  to  want  to  work  was  that  they  could 
live  so  well  with  the  pretence  of  wanting  work.  Ricci,  in  a 
book  on  the  reform  of  the  institutions  of  charity  in  Modena,'^ 
traced  the  gigantic  development  of  mendicancy  in  Italy  to  the 
1  Lecky,  vol.  ii.,  p.  95.  ^  Published  in  1787. 


10  AMEIilCAN   CHARITIES. 

excessive  charity  of  the  people.  He  seemed  to  regard  as  an 
evil  "all  charity  which  sprang  from  religious  motives,  and 
was  greater  than  would  spring  from  the  unaided  instincts 
of  man."  ^ 

This  appeal  to  a  natural  man  back  of  the  actual  man 
influenced  by  religion  and  law,  marks  Ricci  as  one  moved 
by  the  spirit  of  the  times  which  immediately  preceded  the 
French  Revolution.  This  time-spirit  influenced  the  relief 
of  the  poor  in  two  ways :  one  through  politics,  and  one 
through  economics  or  political  economy.  Liberty  and  equal- 
ity were  the  two  words  which  represented  the  regnant  ideas 
of  the  times.  The  religious  dogma  of  the  brotherhood  of 
man  was  paralleled  by  the  political  dogma  of  the  equality 
of  man,  and  the  result  was  a  tendency  to  relieve  distress 
with  greater  promptness  and  completeness.  The  revolution- 
ary governments  of  France  guaranteed  to  all  not  only  oppor- 
tunities to  work,  but  security  against  starvation,  and  the 
facile  manner  in  which  the  state  in  that  country  still 
assumes  the  care  of  abandoned  infants  perhaps  shows  the 
influence  of  such  philosophers  as  Rousseau,  who  believed 
that  children  should  be  raised  by  the  state,  and  who  gladly 
turned  over  his  own  children  to  be  brought  up  by  that 
agency.  Indirectly  it  is  probable  that  the  belief  in  the 
political  dogma  of  the  equality  of  men  also  influenced  the 
administration  of  the  English  poor-law,  until  it  culminated 
in  the  great  abuses  which  compelled  the  reforms  of  1834. 
But  liberty,  not  equality,  was  the  first  word  in  the  sociolog- 
ical creed  of  the  revolutionary  period  from  1789  to  1848. 
And  while  this  word  was  constantly  used  by  the  politicians, 
the  group  of  men  who  stood  most  consistently  for  it  in  in- 
dustrial affairs  were  the  students  of  the  new-born  science  of 
political  economy. 

The  earlier  economists  had  little  to  say  regarding  the  re- 
lief of  the  poor,  though  the  subject  was  mentioned  by  Sir 
1  Cited  by  Lecky,  vol.  ii.,  p.  98. 


PHILANTHROPY  AND   THE  SCIENCES.  11 

James  Steuart  and  Adam  Smith,  and  others  took  up  the 
subject  of  the  English  poor-laws.  It  received  very  full  con- 
sideration, however,  in  Malthus's  work  on  the  "  Principle  of 
Population,"  where  he  gave  two  chapters  to  the  English 
poor-law  and  two  other  excellent  ones  to  the  considera- 
tion of  certain  proposals  for  improving  the  condition  of  the 
poor.  Many  of  the  extracts  from  chapter  nine  of  the  sec- 
ond edition  of  his  work  might  serve  as  mottoes  for  modern 
charity  organization  societies  ;  though  it  would  not  be  ex- 
pedient to  use  them,  since  people  have  insisted  on  connecting 
with  the  name  of  this  English  clergyman  so  much  that  is 
brutal  and  materialistic  and  hopeless.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  does  not  deprecate  the  exercise  of  charity,  and  would 
even  give  to  it  a  much  broader  field  than  that  recently  ac- 
corded to  it  by  Herbert  Spencer ;  but  he  calls  attention  to 
the  fact  that  there  is  no  direction  in  which  human  ingenuity 
has  been  more  exerted  than  in  the  endeavor  to  ameliorate 
the  condition  of  the  poor,  and  that  there  is  certainly  none  in 
which  it  has  so  completely  failed.  "There  is  no  subject," 
he  adds,  "  to  which  general  principles  have  been  so  seldom 
applied ;  and  yet,  in  the  whole  compass  of  human  knowl- 
edge, I  doubt  if  there  be  one  in  which  it  is  so  dangerous  to 
lose  sight  of  them,  because  the  partial  and  immediate  effects 
of  a  particular  mode  of  giving  assistance  are  so  often 
directly  opposite  to  the  general  and  permanent  effects."  ^ 

Among  the  economists  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  Whately  and  Chalmers  dealt  quite  extensively  with 
the  poor-law  and  the  problems  of  poor-relief.  Chalmers  re- 
enforced  his  teachings  in  this  matter  by  doing  away  with 
public  relief  of  the  poor  in  his  parish,  and  providing  for 
their  care  entirely  through  voluntary  contributions.  He 
believed  that  all  public  relief  of  the  poor  was  bad ;  and, 
besides  what  is  contained  in  his  political  economy,  he  wrote 
upon  the  subject  at  length  in  the  three  volumes  which  appear 

1  "  Principle  of  Population,"  2d  ed.,  p.  583. 


12  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

under  tlie  title  of  ''The  Christian  and  Civic  Economy  of 
Large  Towns." 

In  the  second  quarter  of  the  century  the  economists  and 
philanthropists  were  destined  to  come  into  direct  collision. 
They  joined  issues  on  two  questions,  and  the  victors  in  one 
case  were  vanquished  in  the  other.  Curiously  enough,  each 
party  was  defeated  on  the  ground  that  seemed  especially  to 
belong  to  itself.  The  economists  won  in  the  fight  for  the 
reform  of  the  poor-laws,  and  the  philanthropists  won  in  the 
fight  for  the  protection  of  women  and  children  in  the  mines 
and  factories  of  England.  The  English  economists  in  their 
contention  for  the  limitation  of  the  poor-law  relief,  and  for 
a  repeal  of  the  corn-laws,  rendered  great  services  to  English 
industry  by  simply  abolishing  governmental  interference. 
It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  they  should  have  been  in- 
clined to  go  to  the  extreme  in  thinking  that  government 
could  never  interfere  without  doing  more  harm  than  good. 

The  English  poor-law,  before  its  reform  in  1834,  is  used 
by  Francis  A.  Walker  to  point  the  moral  that  while  "  the 
legislator  may  think  it  hard  that  his  power  for  good  is  so 
closely  restricted,  he  has  no  reason  to  complain  of  any 
limits  upon  his  power  for  evil."  Describing  the  opera- 
tions of  the  act.  Walker  says :  — 

"  All  its  details  were  unnecessarily  bad.  The  condition  of  the  per- 
son who  threw  himself  flat  upon  public  charity  was  better  than  that 
of  the  laborer  who  struggled  on  to  preserve  his  manhood  in  self- 
support.  The  disposition  to  labor  was  cut  up  by  the  roots.  All 
restraints  upon  increase  of  population  disappeared  under  a  premium 
upon  births.  Self-respect  and  social  decency  vanished  before  a  money 
premium  on  bastardy." 

Professor  Senior  was  an  active  member  of  the  commission 
of  inquiry  regarding  the  operations  of  the  poor-law,  and  for 
some  time  the  reports  of  the  poor-law  commission  were 
written  in  line  with  the  views  of  the  economists.  It  was 
while  reviewing  these  reports   that  Carlyle  characterized 


PHILANTHROPY  AND   THE  SCIENCES.  13 

political  economy  as  "  the  dismal  science."  He  thus  sum- 
marizes the  teachings  of  the  economists  as  evidenced  in  the 
reports :  — 

"  Ours  is  a  world  requiring  only  to  be  well  let  alone.  Scramble  along, 
thou  insane  scramble  of  a  world  ;  thou  art  all  right  and  shall  scramble 
even  so.  And  whoever  in  the  press  is  trodden  down  has  only  to  lie 
there  and  be  trampled  broad  ;  such  at  bottom  seems  to  be  the  chief 
social  principle,  if  principle  it  have,  which  the  poor-law  amendment 
act  has  the  merit  of  courageously  asserting,  in  opposition  to  many 
things." 

A  similar  view  of  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  poor-law 
administration  is  expressed  by  Cunningham,  who  says :  — 

"It  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  irreparable  mischief  which 
was  done  to  Englishmen  for  many  generations  through  the  demoraliz- 
ing influences  exercised  by  some  of  the  administrative  methods  then 
in  use.  The  granting  of  allowances  per  child  has  been  freely  stigma- 
tized as  a  mischievous  stimulus  to  population  ;  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it 
was  much  worse  ;  there  is  abundant  evidence  to  show  that  it  acted  as 
a  direct  incentive  to  immorality.  But  the  evil  of  the  whole  system  was 
most  patent  from  the  various  ways  in  which  it  conspired  to  render 
the  inefficient  pauper  comfortable  at  the  expense  of  the  good  work- 
man who  tried  to  earn  a  living.  The  allowance  must  have  had  an  ex- 
traordinary effect  in  diminishing  the  rate  of  wages  and  forcing  men  to 
depend  upon  supplementary  payments  out  of  rates  ;  and  an  even  worse 
mischief  in  some  ways  was  the  labor  rate  ;  by  this  system  a  rate- 
payer was  obliged  to  employ  a  certain  number  of  pauper  laborers  in 
accordance  with  his  assessment  and  to  pay  them  regular  wages  with- 
out reference  to  their  work.  An  employer  might  thus  be  forced  to 
dismiss  good  hands  in  order  to  give  employment  to  inefficient 
paupers."  ^ 

It  may  be  questioned,  however,  whether  the  earlier  inter- 
pretation of  the  results  of  the  poor-laws  has  not  overlooked 
other  factors  of  equal  if  not  superior  importance  in  the 
wretched  condition  of  the  English  working-classes  of  this 
period.     Marshall  declares :  — 

"Year  by  year  the  condition  of  the  working-classes  in  England  be- 
1  "  Growth  of  English  Industry  and  Commerce,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  662-663, 


14  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

came  more  gloomy  :  an  astonishing  series  of  bad  harvests,  a  most 
exhausting  war,  a  change  in  the  methods  of  industry  that  dislocated 
old  ties,  combined  with  an  injudicious  poor-law  to  bring  the  working- 
classes  into  the  greatest  misery  they  have  ever  suffered,  at  all  events 
since  the  beginning  of  trustworthy  records  of  English  social  history."  ^ 

In  a  brief  historical  review  of  the  political  and  industrial 
changes  which  took  place  just  before  the  reform  of  the 
English .  poor-laws,  Devine  protests  against  the  dominant 
idea  that  the  lax  administration  of  relief  was  solely  or  even 
chiefly  responsible  for  the  deplorable  prevalence  of  pauper- 
ism in  England  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
He  says  :  — 

"  England  was  saved  from  pauperization,  revolution,  and  other 
unforeseen  disasters,  not  by  deciding  to  distribute  less  relief  or  by 
deciding  that  the  able-bodied  poor,  if  assisted  at  all,  should  be 
assisted  only  in  the  workhouse,  wise  as  these  decisions  were,  but  by 
the  rise  of  religious  and  political  liberty,  by  introducing  in  advance  of 
other  countries  modern  forms  of  agi'iculture  and  industry,  by  develop- 
ing her  commerce  and  trade,  by  the  adoption  of  a  more  nearly  demo- 
cratic organization  of  society,  and  by  listening  to  the  voice  of  humane 
and  public-spirited  counsels.  The  lessening  of  the  poor  rates  was 
made  practicable  by  and  was  not  the  principal  cause  of  the  progress 
of  the  period."  2 

Seligman  regards  the  abuses  of  the  early  nineteenth 
century  as  chiefly  due  to  the  change  from  the  domestic  to 
the  factory  system.  "  The  old  poor-law,"  he  says,  "  did 
not  create  English  poverty,  and  the  new  poor-law  did  not 
abolish  it."^ 

But  whatever  view  be  taken  of  the  relative  significance 
of  the  poor-law  and  of  poor-law  reform  as  an  explanation  of 
the  misery  of  English  laborers  and  their  subsequent  prog- 
ress, the  economists  of  the  time  were  right  in  standing  out 
for  the   restriction   and  modification  of  public  poor-relief. 

1  "Principles  of  Economics,"  p.  233. 

2  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  276-277. 
*  "  Principles  of  Ecouomics,"  p.  594. 


PHILANTHROPY  AND   THE  SCIENCES.  15 

The  laxness  of  administration  may  have  come  in  part  from 
the  humanitarian  bearings  of  the  doctrine  of  political 
equality  and  in  part  from  greater  actual  need,  resulting 
from  the  war  taxes,  the  primitive  methods  of  agriculture, 
industry,  and  commerce,  and  other  unreformed  features  of 
English  life  of  that  period ;  but  whatever  its  cause,  it  had 
become  by  1832  wholly  mischievous.  Even  if  regarded  as 
merely  one  element  in  a  transitional  period,  it  still  is  no 
exception  to  the  established  principle  that  the  offer  of  re- 
lief upon  easy  terms  is  demoralizing. 

In  the  other  struggle  of  the  same  period,  that  for  factory 
legislation,  the  economists  and  philanthropists  were  dis- 
tinctly opposed ;  but  this  time  it  was  the  economists  that 
were  deservedly  beaten.  The  issue  involved  the  welfare  of 
three  hundred  thousand  operatives,  male  and  female,  in  the 
factories  of  England,  and  of  forty  thousand  children  under 
thirteen  years  of  age.  The  question  was  complicated  with 
many  political  considerations  and  was  championed  by  the 
conservatives,  not  so  much  perhaps  because  the  country 
gentlemen  sympathized  with  the  mill-hands,  as  because  it 
seemed  a  method  by  which  they  could  get  even  with  the 
representatives  of  the  manufacturing  towns  for  the  repeal 
of  the  corn-laws.  Lord  Ashley,  afterward  the  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury,  leader  in  the  fight  for  the  protection  of  the 
operatives,  is  now  acknowledged  to  have  been  actuated  by 
the  purest  motives  ;  but  at  the  time  he  was  bitterly  attacked 
as  a  "  humanity-monger  "  by  the  practical  men  who  opposed 
him.  Cobden,  in  a  private  letter,  sneered  at  this  "  canting  " 
and  joined  with  Professor  Senior  and  Miss  Martineau  in 
supplying  the  scientific  weapons  of  offence  and  defence  for 
such  men  as  John  Bright  and  Gladstone  and  Peel  and  Lord 
Brougham  among  the  politicians. 

A  majority  of  economists,  both  in  and  out  of  Parliament, 
were  against  the  factory  acts.  Indeed,  nearly  all  the  argu- 
ing that  was  done  on  economic  grounds  was  against  the  acts. 


16  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

Ill  a    paper  which,  curiously  eno\Tgh,  is  the  Cobden  prize 
essay  for  1891,  Jeans  observes : — 

"  Lord  Shaftesbury  and  his  opponents  played  a  veritable  game  of 
cross  questions.  They  attacked  him,  for  instance,  with  the  threatened 
ruiu  of  English  trade,  and  the  pauperization  of  the  working-class, 
and  he  would  reply  by  pointing  to  the  great  sanitary  or  moral  or 
religious  benefits  which  must  accrue."  ^ 

As  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  himself  said :  "  To  practical 
prophecies  of  overthrow  of  trade,  of  ruin  to  the  operatives 
themselves,  I  could  only  oppose  'humanity'  and  general 
principles."  ^  Sir  John  Kussell  is  said  to  have  been  con- 
verted to  support  the  acts,  not  by  labored  arguments,  but  by 
being  induced  to  walk  back  and  forth  in  his  parlor  for  a  time 
over  a  track  similar  to  that  which  many  of  the  child  opera- 
tives had  to  travel  for  twelve  or  more  hours  a  day. 

It  was  sympathy  for  the  operatives,  not  an  appreciation  of 
the  good  results  to  be  got  for  English  industry  by  the  factory 
acts,  that  secured  their  passage.  As  the  Encyclopaedia  Bri- 
tannica  puts  it,  "  they  were  passed. in  the  name  of  the  moral 
and  physical  health  of  the  community."  Yet  Shaftesbury's 
speech  of  May,  1847,  and  Macaulay's  speech  on  the  ten-hour 
bill,  gave  evidence  of  what  a  strong  case  might  have  been 
made  out  for  the  acts  on  economic  grounds ;  but  these  were 
almost  the  only  examples  of  such  argumentation.^ 

Although  Professor  Fawcett,  as  late  as  1878,  opposed  from 
his  seat  in  Parliament  that  part  of  the  consolidated  factory 
acts  intended  to  protect  adult  women  operatives,  there  is 
now  substantial  agreement  among  economists  that  Macau- 
lay's  position  was  well  taken.  Factory  legislation,  instead 
of  ruining  British  industry,  reestablished  its  foundations. 

1  "  Factory  Act  Legislation,"  p.  20. 

2  Hodder,  "Life  of  Shaftesbury,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  209. 

8  The  key-note  of  Macaulay's  telling  speech  is  struck  in  this  sentence 
from  it:  "Never  will  I  believe  that  what  makes  a  population  stronger 
and  healthier  and  wiser  and  better  can  ultimately  make  it  poorer."  — 
Speeches,  vol.  xi.,  p.  28. 


PHILANTHROPY  AND   THE  SCIENCES.  17 

Some  of  the  parliamentary  opponents  of  the  early  bills  voted 
for  the  later  ones,  and,  in  publicly  recanting,  expressly  said 
that  they  had  been  misled  by  the  economists  and  "  the  gen- 
tlemen from  Lancashire."  The  debt  owing  to  the  economists 
for  the  reform  of  the  poor-laws,  the  philanthropists  had  paid. 

The  experience  of  England  in  these  two  matters  very  well 
illustrates  the  interaction  of  sense  and  sympathy  in  the  di- 
rection of  human  affairs.  The  discussions  in  the  houses  of 
Parliament,  between  the  so-called  "humanity-mongers"  and 
the  students  of  the  so-called  "  dismal  science,"  have  their 
counterpart  in  the  opposing  considerations  which  suggest 
themselves  to  every  thinking  man  who  tries  to  aid  the  poor. 
If  our  instincts  were  all  healthy,  or  our  intellects  all  perfect, 
we  could  rely  upon  either  side  of  our  nature  without  fear  of 
blundering.  But,  as  in  the  case  of  English  legislation,  first 
one  party  blundered  and  then  the  other,  so  each  man,  in 
threading  his  way  along  the  devious  paths  of  conduct,  must 
sometimes  put  rational  restraints  upon  his  emotions,  and  at 
other  times  must  be  content  to  let  "  his  instincts  save  him 
from  his  intelligence."  This  principle,  which  holds  in  na- 
tional and  personal  affairs,  holds  also  in  the  formulation  of 
a  true  social  philosophy.  Such  a  philosophy  must  recognize 
that  the  instincts  of  men  very  commonly  have  their  origin 
or  their  justification  in  race  experience,  and  that  they  are 
sometimes  a  more  trustworthy  guide  than  reasoning  which 
is  conceivably  inaccurate,  or  which  may  be  based  on  in- 
formation which  is  possibly  incomplete. 

If  economics  has  had  some  influence  on  philanthropy, 
the  philanthropic  instincts  of  men  are  finally  coming  to  have 
some  influence  in  compelling  the  broadening  of  political 
economy.  They  dominate  too  much  legislation  and  deter- 
mine the  expenditure  of  too  much  wealth  to  be  left  out  of 
account.  As  we  have  seen,  they  are  not  only  powerful,  but 
at  times  indispensably  helpful ;  and,  even  if  it  were  possible 
to  ignore  them,  it  would  be  unwise  to  do  so. 


18  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

But  for  two  or  three  decades  that  branch  of  social  philosophy- 
known  as  political  economy  seemed  bound,  so  far  as  England 
was  concerned,  to  discredit  itself  by  not  recognizing  this 
truth.  Its  teachings  were  too  final  and  dogmatic  to  be  influ- 
ential or  even  true.  Cromwell's  exhortation  to  the  theolo- 
gians of  his  time  might  properly  have  been  addressed  to  the 
English  economists  from  1850  to  1880  :  "  In  the  bowels  of 
the  Lord,  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  consider  it  possible  that 
you  may  be  mistaken  !  "  Indeed,  equivalent  exhortations 
were  addressed  to  them,  but  without  effect.  In  the  United 
States  a  few  professors  of  political  economy  echoed  or  at- 
tacked Manchestrian  economics,  but  for  the  most  part  they 
had  no  influence.  This  country  was  too  young  to  bother 
with  industrial  science.  Its  resources  seemed  to  be  so  inex- 
haustible that  no  thought  was  given  to  conserving  them. 
Least  of  all  was  it  imagined  that  we  need  give  serious  atten- 
tion to  the  matter  of  poor-relief.  It  was  assumed  that  we 
were  quarantined  against  poverty  and  distress  by  our  glorious 
Constitution  and  Declaration  of  Independence.  Scarcely  a 
generation  ago  a  writer  in  the  New  York  Nation,  when  re- 
viewing a  work  on  French  charities,  half  apologized  for 
treating  such  a  subject,  but  suggested  in  extenuation  that, 
if  we  should  ever  have  to  organize  a  system  of  charities, 
French  experience  might  be  a  useful  guide.  Nevertheless, 
at  that  moment  were  already  arising  problems  of  destitution, 
unemployment,  and  family  disintegration,  which  have  kept 
jmce  with  the  movement  of  population  toward  cities  and  man- 
ufacturing centres,  and  which  were  in  part  the  result  of  an  un- 
distributed foreign  immigration.  With  the  beginning  of  the 
twentieth  century,  America  has  realized  the  possibility  in 
these  congested  localities  of  conditions  as  desperate  as  those 
with  which  some  parts  of  Europe  have  long  been  familiar. 

Thus,  in  the  century  following  Malthus  and  Chalmers, 
philanthropy  and  economics  have  gradually  been  approach- 
ing each  other,  and  are  now  welded  into  a  friendly  and  in- 


PHILANTHROPY  AND    THE   SCIENCES.  19 

dissoluble  partnership.  An  increasing  body  of  students, 
trained  in  a  more  generous  political  economy  than  that  of 
Senior  and  Miss  Martineau,  are  seeking  technical  discipline 
in  schools  of  philanthropy  in  order  to  devote  themselves  to 
professional,  administrative,  and  constructive  work  in  char- 
ities. Dismal  scientists  and  humanity -mongers  have  joined 
forces  for  the  betterment  of  society ;  the  economists,  on  the 
one  hand,  recognizing  altruism  as  a  fundamental  motive  of 
progress  ;  the  philanthropists,  on  the  other,  giving  more  and 
more  weight  to  the  economic  bearings  of  all  social  reform. 
Simultaneously  with  increasing  demands  for  systematic 
charity,  a  broader  and  more  human  political  economy  has 
been  taking  the  place  of  that  dismal  laissez-faire  which  so 
vehemently  opposed  the  reforms  of  English  philanthropy. 
On  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  the  renaissance  in  economics 
came  even  earlier  than  in  England,  and  in  many  schools  it 
has  dealt  more  directly  and  thoroughly  with  the  problems 
of  philanthropy  than  is  usual  abroad.  The  Manchestrian 
economists  made  slight  and  for  the  most  part  merely  nega- 
tive contributions  to  the  subject,  but  from  the  time  of  Mar- 
shall in  England  and  Walker  in  the  United  States,  every 
economist  has  given  it  a  respectful  and  more  or  less  extended 
treatment. 

In  all  the  larger  American  colleges  courses  in  causes  of 
poverty,  charities,  and  penology  are  now  given  either  by  the 
professors  of  the  economics  department  or  by  a  separate  staff 
in  a  distinct  department  under  the  title  of  sociology;  and  in 
a  few,  other  courses  of  a  more  constructive  character  de- 
velop still  further  the  economic  aspects  of  altruism.  As  a 
recent  economist  expresses  it :  — 

"  The  modern  theory  of  economic  life  fits  in  not  only  with  the  facts 
of  the  business  world,  but  with  the  demands  of  social  reform.  The 
economics  of  to-day  has  finally  reached  the  stage  where  it  seeks  to  re- 
tain the  cold  passivity  of  science  and  yet  to  reflect  the  warm  glow  of 
human  interests  and  living  ideals," 


20  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

"While  philanthropy  and  economics,  starting  from  opposite 
poles,  have  been  approaching  each  other  and  have  at  last  found 
a  common  meeting  ground,  both  have  at  the  same  time  been 
strongly  influenced  by  the  biological  sciences.  Setting  aside 
the  effect  of  the  evolutionary  hypothesis  upon  economic 
thought,  its  immediate  application  to  philanthropy  raised  the 
question  as  to  whether  the  ultimate  influence  of  charity  in  the 
natural  history  of  mankind  was  good  or  evil.^  Spencer's 
dictum  that  the  result  of  shielding  people  from  the  conse- 
quence of  their  folly  is  to  fill  the  world  with  fools,  was  indeed 
no  new  alarm.  Plato,  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago, 
warned  his  countrymen  of  the  degradation  in  store  for  any 
nation  which  perpetuated  the  unfit  by  allowing  its  citizens  to 
breed  from  enervated  stock ;  and  he  sketched  for  them  an  im- 
aginary republic  in  which  no  considerations  of  inheritance,  of 
family  ties,  or  of  pity  were  permitted  to  stand  in  the  way  of 
the  elimination  of  the  weak  and  the  perfection  of  the  race.^ 
But  the  evolutionists  used  the  new  scientific  phraseology,  de- 
claring that  philanthropy  and  science  promoted  the  survival 
of  the  unfit,  who  reproduced  themselves  in  an  enfeebled 
progeny,  and  that  this  interference  with  the  struggle  for 
existence  was  pernicious.  They  maintained  that  civilization 
itself  developed  sympathy,  which,  in  turn,  devised  methods 
for  protecting  the  weak,  and  thus  the  law  of  progress  was 
reversed.  Moreover,  it  was  said  that  philanthropy  not  only 
perpetuated  the  weak,  but  in  its  essence  sacrificed  the  strong 
to  the  weak,  as  shown  by  the  increase  of  institutions  for  the 
insane,  the  defective,  and  incapable,  and  the  devotion  of 
humane  persons  and  vast  sums  of  money  to  their  care.^ 

At  this  period,  from  the  biological  point  of  view,  there 
were  only  two  ways  of  improving  the  human  race :  the  one 
by  selection,  the  other  by  heredity.     If  the  selective  pro- 

1  Bagehot,  "  Works,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  556. 

2  Cummings,  Quar.  Jotir.  of  Economics,  vol.  xii.,  1898. 
8  Ely,  "  Evolution  of  Industrial  Society,"  p.  165. 


PHILANTHROPY  AND   THE  SCIENCES.  21 

cesses  were  suspended  from  philanthropic  raotives,  there 
was  still  opportunity  to  improve  the  race,  independently  of 
selection,  by  seeing  to  it  that  individuals  acquired  the 
characteristics  that  it  was  desirable  for  them  to  transmit. 
Just  when  it  seemed  to  be  settled  that  the  only  way  to 
improve  mankind  was  by  training  in  a  carefully  adjusted 
environment.  Professor  Weismann  appeared  with  his  denial 
that  there  was  any  proof  of  the  transmission  of  acquired 
characters.  He  showed  that  many  of  the  resemblances  of 
children  to  parents  which  had  been  attributed  to  heredity 
were  merely  the  result  of  similar  environment,  contending 
that  change  of  environment  and  special  training  affected 
only  the  individual,  whose  life-history  could  not  be  passed 
on  to  the  offspring. 

This  view  not  only  made  valueless  much  that  had  been 
written  on  the  bearing  of  heredity  upon  social  life  and  en- 
vironment, but  to  some  it  seemed  to  make  the  improvement 
of  the  race  painfully  slow,  if  not  almost  hopeless,  since  the 
only  permanent  gain  must  be  made  through  the  selective 
processes.  Others,  with  a  better  understanding  of  the  full 
import  of  the  theory  in  its  application  to  human  life,  pointed 
out  that  whatever  environment  might  not  do  for  the  race  it 
was  concededly  of  the  highest  importance  for  the  individual. 
Professor  Warner,  in  the  first  edition  of  this  book,  written 
shortly  after  Weismann's  conclusions  had  been  published, 
said :  —   ■ 

"  It  should  also  be  remembered  that  among  the  higher  animals, 
and  especially  among  human  beings,  the  individual  is  more  plastic  than 
in  the  lower  orders  ;  his  life-history,  and  especially  the  history  of  his 
very  early  life,  has  more  influence  upon  his  character.  Therefore,  while 
we  must  give  attention  to  selection,  we  cannot  conclude  that  certain 
families  are  degenerate  and  essentially  unfit  to  survive  until  we  have 
given  their  offspring  the  very  best  opportunities  for  right  development. 
I  would  say,  then,  that  to  assume  Weismann  to  be  right  —  acquired 
characteristics  to  be  not  transmitted  —  is  possibly  the  safest  working 
hypothesis,  because,  on  the   one  hand,  it  does  not  limit  our  efforts 


22  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

to  improve  environment,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  gives  us  a 
sharp  realization  of  the  importance  of  selection,  a  factor  which  we  are 
otherwise  prone  to  forget  or  to  undervalue.  To  whatever  extent  hered- 
ity may  be  ascertained  to  he  a  factor  in  determining  character  and 
the  consequent  career,  substantially  to  that  extent  the  problem  of  pre- 
venting the  suffering  that  comes  from  destitution  is  a  question  of  hu- 
man selection." 

A  part  of  the  confusion  arising  from  the  application  of 
later  biological  theory  came  from  the  inaccurate  use  of  the 
term  "  natural  selection,"  as  though  nature  were  something 
apart  from  man  to  which  he  must  submit  and  might  not 
modify.  In  this  sense,  natural  selection  is  not  only  a  harsh 
but  expensive  way  of  improving  the  species.  Among  men, 
however,  natural  selection,  in  the  sense  in  which  that  term 
would  be  applied  to  the  killing  off  of  young  oak  trees,  is 
very  much  modified  by  two  important  factors  :  instinct  and 
reason.  The  best  example  of  the  first  is  the  parental 
instinct,  which  causes  the  parent  to  stand  between  the  off- 
spring and  the  remorseless  operations  of  nonsentient  nature. 
Instinctive  selection  is  a  step  toward  something  better  than 
natural  selection,  something  more  economical  of  time  and 
energy  and  life ;  but  it  is  still  a  blind  and  wasteful  advance. 
The  excessive  development  of  the  sexual  instinct,  which  at 
one  time  is  necessary  to  the  survival  and  dominance  of  the 
race,  may  at  another  become  a  menace  to  its  welfare.  It 
must  then  be  dominated  by  reason  or  by  otlier  instincts,  or 
the  race  will  disappear.  The  instinct  of  the  fighter,  once 
necessary  to  preserve  him  in  the  rude  struggles  of  the  time, 
may  at  another  time  leave  him  a  savage  in  a  society  which 
hangs  the  too  combative  individual  as  a  murderer.  Reason, 
the  second  factor  in  natural  selection  as  applied  to  human 
beings,  is  illustrated  when  a  state  enacts  laws  against  mur- 
der, or  endeavors  to  establish  any  other  rule  of  justice  than 
that  of  the  strongest ;  when  it  drains  a  malarial  swamp,  or 
provides  for  sanitary  inspection  in  order  to  lower  the  death- 


PHILANTHROPY  AND   THE  SCIENCES.  23 

rate ;  whenever,  in  short,  any  action  is  taken  for  the  set 
purpose  of  affecting  the  death-rate,  or  the  birth-rate,  or  of 
promoting  the  public  health.  Mr.  Ritchie  has  reminded  us 
that  if  we  are  to  let  purely  "natural  "  selection  do  its  per- 
fect work,  we  must  abolish  marriage  laws  and  all  laws  rela- 
tive to  the  inheritance  of  property. 

Rational  selection  at  first,  and  at  its  poorest,  is  only  a 
shade  better  than  instinctive  selection.  But  it  is  manifest 
that,  at  its  best  and  in  its  possibilities,  it  is  the  superior  of 
the  other  two  forms  ;  and  those  races  will  eventually  survive 
which  practise  it  most  constantly  and  most  wisely.  This 
indicates  what  is  the  simple  truth,  that  human  "  natural 
selection,"  could  we  but  understand  the  latter  term  in  its 
broadest  sense,  includes  all  three, —  nonsentient,  instinctive, 
rational,  —  being  made  up  of  the  total  of  selective  forces 
operating  upon  the  human  species. 

Benevolence  has  usually  operated  only  on  the  plane  of 
instinctive  selection ;  but  on  the  whole,  even  so,  it  has  intro- 
duced some  improvements  into  human  selection,  made  that 
selection  less  wasteful,  and  reached  results  with  less  expen- 
diture of  energy  and  life.  Its  services  to  the  species  in 
keeping  those  who  were  "fit,"  from  the  standpoint  of  race 
improvement,  from  being  crushed  by  temporary  and  local 
conditions,  overbalance  its  tendency  to  keep  the  essentially 
"  unfit  "  in  existence. 

The  most  obvious  result  of  charity  as  a  selective  force  has 
been  to  lengthen  the  lives  of  the  individuals  cared  for. 
There  are  many  who  believe  it  to  be  in  and  of  itself  a  uni- 
formly desirable  result.  They  hold  that  no  spark  of  human 
life  can  be  extinguished  without  greater  indirect  loss  than 
the  direct  gain  which  comes  in  freedom  from  the  necessity 
of  supporting  the  individual.  They  would  care  with  all 
tenderness  for  the  most  misshapen,  physically  and  morally, 
until  death  could  no  longer  be  postponed.  As  the  author 
has  stood  by  the  beds  of  consumptive  or  syphilitic  children, 


24  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

he  has  w^ondered  if  it  was  a  kindness  to  keep  life  in  the  pain- 
racked  body.  Cure  was  out  of  the  question  so  far  as  medi- 
cal science  now  knows,  and  one  wonders  why  days  of  pain 
should  be  added  to  days  of  pain.  The  same  questions 
recur  as  one  passes  through  the  incurable  wards  of  an  alms- 
house, especially  as  one  studies  the  cases  of  the  cancer 
patients.  The  answer  of  religion  to  such  questions  is  easy, 
and  it  seems  very  sure  that  without  religious  incentive  we 
should  not  have  entertained  our  present  views  regarding  the 
sanctity  of  human  life. 

But  now  that  the  feeling  is  developed,  even  science  can  ex- 
plain in  some  sort  how  it  is  expedient  that  it  should  exist. 
We  cannot  extinguish  or  in  any  wise  connive  at  the  extinc- 
tion of  human  life  without  injury  to  all  the  instincts  and 
sensibilities  that  render  it  possible  for  us  to  live  together 
with  our  fellows  in  civilized  society.  The  decline  of  the 
death  penalty  as  punishment  for  the  most  heinous  crimes, 
the  secrecy  in  which  its  rare  enforcement  is  now  enshrouded, 
and  the  substitution  of  the  electric  current  for  the  axe  and 
the  rope  testify  to  the  recognition  of  this  principle.  Mod- 
ern society  can  afford  to  incur  any  expense  and  trouble  to 
preserve  the  humane  instinct  in  those  who  represent  its 
laws.  Frequently  physicians  and  matrons  and  superinten- 
dents of  institutions  become  so  callous  to  suffering,  and  so 
worn  oiit  by  overstrain,  that  they  almost  connive  at  the  ex- 
tinction of  human  life.  For  instance,  in  the  case  of  a  child 
suffering  from  hydrocephalus  and  beyond  hope  of  cure,  only 
the  most  constant  attention  could  keep  him  alive ;  the  matron 
finally  somewhat  relaxed  her  vigilance  in  seeing  that  he  was 
properly  cared  for,  and  indigestion  carried  him  off.  This 
failure  to  do  all  that  is  possible  to  combat  disease  is  common 
in  many  institutions,  usually  without  any  consciousness  of 
a  willingness  to  facilitate  death,  but  none  the  less  with  a 
latent  feeling  that  possibly  those  that  die  are  happier  tha^ 
those  that  live. 


PHILANTHROPY  AND    THE  SCIENCES.  25 

All  such  neglect  of  duty  is  a  coming  short  of  the  high- 
est ideal  of  philanthropy,  no  less  than  of  religion.  While 
physicians  may  sometimes  be  justified  in  chloroforming  a 
monstrous  birth,  and  while,  far  off,  philosophers  think  they 
see  the  coming  of  a  day  when  we  may  have  legal  suicides, 
and  when  we  can  take  human  life  because  we  are  pitiful, 
and  not  because  we  are  selfish,^  yet  for  the  present  it  must 
be  held  that  science  justifies  and  philanthropy  corroborates 
Christianity  in  holding  that  each  spark  of  human  life  must 
be  conserved  in  all  tenderness  and  with  all  care.- 

Eventually  this  policy  compels  us  to  search  for  causes  of 
degeneration  and  suffering.  Could  we  cheaply  rid  ourselves 
of  incapables  and  close  our  hearts  to  the  appeal  of  distress, 
we  might  never  have  the  compulsion  put  upon  us  of  seeking 
out  the  wiser  plans,  which  may  eventually  give  us  a  more 
uniformly  healthy  race.  Extermination  might  be  an  easy 
cure  for  pauperism,  but  it  would  be  a  costly  remedy  bio- 
logically ;  and  if  we  allow  our  instincts  to  compel  us  to 
forego  the  use  of  it,  we  may  ultimately  be  driven  to  preven- 
tive measures.  As  we  shall  see  in  the  subsequent  chapters, 
in  proportion  as  the  burden  of  the  dependent  has  increased 
and  the  standard  of  care  risen,  the  search  has  spread  from 
symptoms  to  causes,  from  causes  to  conditions  of  poverty, 
and  culminated  in  a  concerted  demand  for  prevention  rather 
than  relief. 

The  influence  of  charity  in  diminishing  the  death-rate 
has  probably  had  much  to  do  with  the  increase  in  the  pro- 
portion of  insane  and  feeble-minded  persons  to  the  total 
population.  The  mere  lengthening  of  the  lives  of  lunatics 
by  better  care  greatly  increases  their  absolute  and  relative 
numbers.     Badly  administered  charities,  however,  may  have 

1  Cf.  views  of  Felix  Adler. 

2  On  the  powerful  and  pervasive  influence  of  the  altruism  born  of 
Christianity  upon  social  and  industrial  development,  see  Kidd,  "  Social 
Evolution." 


26  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

exactly  the  opposite  result.  An  unclean  hospital  may  re- 
sult in  the  death  of  an  undue  number  of  the  sick  brought  to 
it.  In  one  maternity  hospital  the  death-rate  rose  as  high 
as  two  women  for  each  five  confinements.  Previous  to  and 
during  the  sixties,  European  experience  in  maternity  hospi- 
tals gave  a  mortality  rate  of  about  one  death  to  twenty- 
nine  confinements ;  in  some  large  hospitals  it  was  as  high 
as  one  in  seven.  It  is  only  recently  that  hospital  service 
has  become  better  than  home  service  in  this  branch  of 
medical  practice.  Undoubtedly  the  actual  result  of  many 
foundling  hospitals  is  to  kill  more  infants  than  would 
meet  death  did  such  hospitals  not  exist  —  the  death-rate 
is  fearfully  high;  sometimes  ninety-seven  per  cent  of  the 
children  fail  to  reach  the  age  of  three  years.  Many  who 
support  charities  designed  to  save  infant  life  might  con- 
clude, if  they  studied  all  the  facts,  that  they  were  contrib- 
uting to  its  destruction. 

The  influence  of  charity  upon  the  birth-rate  is  much  more 
obscure.  Long  before  natural  selection  was  discussed  under 
that  name,  Chalmers  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
relief  of  the  poor  from  public  funds  resulted  in  taking  money 
from  the  thrifty  and  giving  it  to  the  thriftless.  Under  the 
unreformed  English  poor-law  the  additional  allowance  per 
child  was  so  large  as  to  make  it  pecuniarily  profitable  to 
have  large  families.  As  the  allowance  for  illegitimate 
children  was  somewhat  larger  than  for  those  born  in  wed- 
lock, a  premium  was  put  upon  illegitimacy.  The  demon- 
stration was  then  complete,  that  a  population  might  be 
degraded  by  the  charity-induced  propagation  of  the  unfit, 
and  that  the  influence  of  charity  upon  the  birth-rate  is  a 
factor  to  be  reckoned  with.  A  system  of  charity  which 
might  be  admissible,  could  it  be  applied  to  an  existing  gen- 
eration alone,  is  wholly  inadmissible  if  it  multiplies  the 
number  of  dependents  in  succeeding  generations.  Both 
Mr.  Dugdale  and  Mr.    McCulloch   found  that   the   pauper 


PUILANTHROPY  AND   THE  SCIENCES.  27 

families  they  investigated  got  permission  to  live  from  the 
lavish  giving  of  public  outdoor  relief,  supplemented  by 
indiscriminate  giving  on  the  part  of  individuals. 

In  the  worst-managed  almshouses  there  is  sometimes 
not  adequate  means  of  separating  the  sexes,  and  the  breed- 
ing of  paupers  goes  on  upon  the  premises.  Formal  mai*- 
riages  between  almshouse  paupers  have  very  frequently 
received  the  sanction  of  both  church  and  state.  A  much 
commoner  abuse,  as  we  shall  find  when  we  come  to  study 
these  institutions,  —  one,  in  fact,  from  which  few  American 
almshouses  are  free,  —  is  the  facility  with  which  the  dis- 
solute and  diseased  can  go  there  until  sufficiently  recuper- 
ated to  be  able  to  have  children  and  then  discharge 
themselves.  The  doors  of  the  hospitals  and  almshouses 
swing  freely  both  ways,  and  the  result  is  a  succession  of 
children,  especially  from  half-witted  women.  These  per- 
sons would  have  been  able  to  have  no  children  or  few  if 
left  entirely  without  help,  and  would  have  been  allowed  to 
have  none  at  all  had  they  been  properly  taken  care  of.  It 
is  coming  to  be  seen  that  the  feeble-minded  (a  much  larger 
class  than  many  suppose)  must  have  custodial  care  through 
life. 

While  the  infant  death-rate  is  known  to  be  increased 
through  institutions  that  receive  without  question  all  chil- 
dren brought  to  them,  it  is  more  of  a  question,  or  at  least  one 
that  is  more  difficult  to  answer  definitely,  whether  or  not 
their  influence  tends  to  increase  the  number  of  illegitimate 
and  abandoned  infants.  Lax  morals  and  open  foundling 
hospitals  usually  are  found  together  ;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to 
demonstrate  the  causal  influence  of  the  institutions  in  pro- 
ducing laxness  of  morals,  though  that  they  have  such  an  in- 
fluence is  usually  believed.  The  extreme  facility  and  secrecy 
with  which  a  child  could  be  disposed  of  to  French  foundling 
hospitals  of  the  older  type  is  alleged  to  have  had  this  result. 
The  author's  own  observation  leads  him  to  think  that  found- 


28  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

ling  hospitals  of  the  kind  usual  in  America,  because  of  the 
high  death-rate  already  mentioned,  tend  to  exterminate 
rather  than  to  multiply  the  progeny  of  unfit  stock. 

A  distinct  influence  upon  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the 
population  is  had  by  those  institutions  that  bring  defectives 
together  to  be  trained,  and  after  training  them  for  self-sup- 
port, encourage  them  to  marry  and  to  intermarry.  This  is, 
of  course,  most  noticeable  with  the  deaf  because  of  the  nature 
of  their  defect.  It  does  not  by  any  means  incapacitate  them 
for  self-support,  while  at  the  same  time  it  makes  the  com- 
panionship of  deaf  with  deaf  especially  congenial.  The 
congregate  system  of  education  of  the  deaf  has  brought  them 
together  in  a  way  calculated  to  promote  extensive  acquaint- 
ance, and  sign  language  tends  to  make  them  a  peculiar 
people.  It  thus  comes  about  that  the  institutions  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  deaf  become  very  definite  factors  in  promoting 
the  propagation  of  deaf-mutism  through  inheritance.  The 
latest  educational  tendency,  and  one  favored  by  Dr.  Howe, 
is  to  abandon  the  sign  language  to  a  considerable  extent,  and 
to  encourage  as  far  as  possible  the  education  of  the  deaf  in 
day  schools.  This  tends  to  assimilate  them  with  the  ordi- 
nary population,  and  their  defect  is  more  likely  to  prove  a  bar 
to  marriage  than  under  the  conditions  of  boarding-schools. 
In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  managers  of  charitable 
institutions  do  not  sufficiently  discourage  marriage  among 
the  dependent  and  defective  classes.  The  duty  of  being 
childless  is  not  one  they  try  to  impose  upon  dependents. 

In  1893  Kitchie  suggested  as  a  possible  beginning  of  the 
work  of  making  the  definition  of  a  mesalliance  scientific, 
that  all  persons  receiving  a  marriage  license  should  be  re- 
quired to  present  a  medical  certificate  giving  evidence  of 
freedom  from  a  hereditary  tendency  to  insanity.^  Since 
then  several  states  have  passed  such  laws.  In  1899  Michi- 
gan forbade  the  marriage  of  insane  and  idiotic  persons  and 
1  Ritchie,  "  Pauperism,"  etc. 


PHILANTHROPY  AND   THE  SCIENCES.  29 

persons  afflicted  with  syphilis  and  gonorrhoea  and  not  cured. 
The  law  of  Connecticut,  passed  in  1902,  forbids  the  mar- 
riage of  epileptics  and  imbeciles  under  a  penalty  of  three 
years'  imprisonment,  with  a  penalty  for  other  persons  aiding 
such  a  marriage,  and  forbids  illegitimate  intercourse  with 
a  defective  woman  under  equally  heavy  penalties.  Indiana 
also  forbids  the  issuance  of  a  license  not  only  to  imbeciles  and 
insane,  but  also  to  indigents  of  five  years'  standing.^ 

Members  of  the  medical  profession  frequently  recommend 
castration  as  a  punishment  for  certain  offences,  and  as  a 
method  of  treatment  for  "  sexual  perverts."  Dr.  Kerlin,  in 
addressing  the  Association  of  Medical  Officers  of  Institutions 
for  the  Feeble-minded,  said :  — 

"While  considering  the  help  that  advanced  surgery  is  to  give  us,  I 
will  refer  to  a  conviction  that  I  have,  that  life-long  salutary  results  to 
many  of  our  boys  and  girls  would  be  realized  if  before  adolescence  the 
procreative  organs  were  removed.  My  experience  extends  to  only  a 
single  case  to  confirm  this  conviction  ;  but  when  I  consider  the  great 
benefit  that  this  young  woman  has  received,  the  entire  arrest  of  an 
epileptic  tendency,  as  well  as  the  removal  of  inordinate  desires  which 
made  her  an  offence  to  the  community  ;  when  I  see  the  tranquil,  well- 
ordered  life  she  is  leading,  her  usefulness  and  industry  in  the  circle  in 
which  she  moves,  and  know  that  surgery  has  been  her  salvation  from 
vice  and  degradation,  I  am  deeply  thankful  to  the  benevolent  lady 
whose  loyalty  to  science  and  comprehensive  charity  made  this  opera- 
tion possible."  "Whose  state,"  he  asks  further  on,  "shall  be  the 
first  to  legalize  oophorectomy  and  orchitomia  for  the  relief  and  cure  of 
radical  depravity  ?  "  ^ 

Indiana  appears  to  have  been^the  first  state  to  apply  this 
remedy.  In  1901  a  law  was  passed  providing  that  upon 
the  recommendation  of  certain  physicians  the  operation 
necessary  to  sterilization  should  be  performed  upon  crimi- 
nals adjudged  to  be  unfit  to  procreate.  Dr.  H.  C.  Sharp  of 
the  Indiana  Reformatory  reports  that  besides  six  prisoners 

lEly,  "Evolution  of  Industrial  Society,"  p.  170  £f . ;  N.  C.  C,  1905, 
p.    594. 

2  Report,  1892,  pp.  277-278;  see  also  Barr,  "  Mental  Defectives." 


30  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

operated  upon  under  the  authority  of  the  law,  two  hundred 
and  seventeen  others  were  so  treated  at  their  own  request.^ 
The  proposal  of  a  law  in  Pennsylvania  providing  for  the 
asexualization  of  imbeciles  and  idiots  who  are  dependent 
inmates  of  a  state  institution,  brought  out  a  vigorous  pro- 
test from  Alexander  Johnson,  an  authority  on  the  care  of 
the  feeble-minded.  Mr.  Johnson  urges  the  sanctity  of  the 
individual  human  being  and  argues  that,  if  sterilized,  the 
most  powerful  incentive  to  their  proper  care  would  be  re- 
moved.    Segregation,  he  thinks,  the  better  way :  — 

"  It  has  far  wider  possibilities  than  the  way  of  surgery  since  it  may 
be  applied,  as  that  could  not  or  at  present  would  not  be,  to  the  many 
cases  on  the  border  line  between  imbecility  and  normality,  for  it  is 
not  necessarily  final  in  any  case.  And  it  is  precisely  the  border-line 
cases,  as  every  institution  man  knows,  for  whom,  if  for  any,  surgery 
might  be  desirable.  Besides  segregation  will  still  be  necessary,  no 
matter  how  much  the  knife  may  be  used.  It  is  only  by  the  chloroform 
method  that  we  may  escape  the  burden  of  the  care  of  these  men  and 
women  children,  the  idiots  and  the  imbeciles.  So  that  method  would 
be  the  next  logical  step."  2 

Whenever,  as  in  the  cases  cited,  it  appears  that  these 
operations  can  be  performed  with  benefit  to  the  individual, 
public  opinion  will  doubtless  sanction  them ;  and  the  result 
of  such  experimentation  may  ultimately  be  to  extend  their 
use  very  widely  in  the  treatment  of  the  diseased  and  crimi- 
nal classes.  To  argue  for  the  introduction  of  such  methods 
on  grounds  of  social  selfishness  will  not  be  the  best  way 
to  hasten  their  introduction. 

Pending  such  experimentation,  the  sterilizing  of  the  es- 
sentially unfit  who  may  be  dependents  seems  likely  to  be 
carried  forward  bj^  the  humaner  methods  of  sequestration 
and  of  custodial  care  through  life.  The  permanent  isola- 
tion of  the  essentially  unfit  has  cojnmended  itself  to  men  as 

1  N.  C.  C,  1905,  p.  594;  Proceedings  American  Prison  Association,  1907  ; 
"Charities,"  vol.  xviii.,  1!K)7,  No.  2(5,  p.  7(3'2. 

2  "  Charities,"  vol.  xiii.,  pp.  595-596. 


PHILANTBEOPT  AND  TBE  SCIENCES.  31 

different  as  Euskin  and  General  Booth,  and  already  the 
movement  to  establish  these  philanthropic  monasteries  and 
nunneries  for  the  feeble-minded  is  becoming  the  substitute 
for  natural  selection.  The  prevention  of  the  marriage  of 
the  unfit,  the  sterilization  of  criminals,  and  the  custodial 
care  of  the  imbecile  are  initial  steps  in  prevention  — 
that  the  unfit  may  cease  to  be  produced  and  to  produce. 
As  Cummings  puts  it :  from  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken 
away  the  power  of  degrading  himself  and  society.  Certain 
it  is,  that  while  charity  may  not  cease  to  shield  the  children 
of  misfortune,  it  must,  to  an  ever  increasing  extent,  reckon 
with  the  laws  of  heredity,  and  do  what  it  can  to  check  the 
spreading  curse  of  race  deterioration.  The  desire  to  prevent 
suffering  must  extend  to  the  desire  to  prevent  the  suffering 
of  unborn  generations. 


CHAPTER  II. 
CAUSES  OF  POVERTY. 

The  combined  result  of  the  rise  of  humanitarianism,  the 
science  of  political  economy,  and  the  evolutionary  theory, 
was  a  new  interest  in  the  causes  of  dependence.  Neither 
philosophers  nor  charity  workers  were  satisfied  to  accept 
any  longer  the  misused  dictum,  "  The  poor  ye  have  always 
with  you,"  as  an  excuse  for  merely  palliative  measures  in 
dealing  with  them,  nor  with  the  current  explanations  of  their 
misery.  The  students  of  the  social  sciences  who  have  sought 
to  ascertain  the  causes  of  poverty  have  employed  three 
tolerably  distinct  methods.  First,  there  are  those  deductive 
or  philosophical  thinkers  who,  from  the  well-known  facts 
of  social  organization,  have  sought  to  deduce  the  causes 
tending  to  poverty,  as  a  systematic  writer  on  pathology 
seeks  to  set  forth  the  inherent  characteristics  of  the  bodily 
organism  which  tend  to  make  disease  likely  or  inevitable. 
Secondly,  there  are  those  who  make  an  inductive  study  of 
concrete  masses  of  pauperism,  usually  separating  the  mass 
into  its  individual  units,  seeking  to  ascertain  in  a  large 
number  of  particular  cases  what  causes  have  operated  to 
bring  about  destitution.  This  work  resembles  that  of  the 
practising  physician,  endeavoring  to  ascertain  the  causes  of 
sickness  by  a  careful  diagnosis  of  the  cases  under  his  care. 
Thirdly,  there  are  those  who  study  the  classes  not  yet  pau- 
perized, to  determine  by  induction  what  forces  are  tending 
to  crowd  individuals  downward  across  the  pauper  line,  as 
the  health  officer  of  a  city  might  undertake,  by  an  examina- 
tion of  the  drainage  system  or  an  analysis  of  the  water  or 

32 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY.  33 

food  supply,  to  ascertain  the  causes  of  disease  in  a  given 
locality. 

Examples  of  the  philosophical  or  deductive  method  are 
found  in  the  writings  of  men  like  Malthus,  or  Karl  Marx, 
or  Henry  George,  who,  while  they  describe  actual  con- 
ditions at  great  length,  still  make  the  philosophical  reason- 
ing which  is  the  heart  of  their  work  antecedent  to  their 
facts.  Their  facts  are  given  by  way  of  illustration  rather 
than  of  proof.  Writers  of  this  class  are  prone  to  think 
that  they  can  find  some  single  underlying  cause  of  all  the 
misery  and  destitution  that  exist.  The  three  names  just 
mentioned  recall  three  explanations  of  poverty,  each 
alleged  to  be  universal,  and  the  three  mutually  exclusive. 
Malthus  was  too  wise  a  man  to  put  forth  his  principle  of 
population  as  an  all-sufficient  explanation  of  distress  ;  but 
his  followers  have  not  been  so  wise.  In  the  writings  of 
certain  economists  it  has  been  a  fundamental  thought  that 
poverty  exists  mainly,  if  not  entirely,  because  population 
tends  to  increase  faster  than  food  supply.  All  other  causes 
are  held  to  contribute  to  this,  or  to  be  derived  from  this. 
The  pressure  of  population  against  the  means  of  subsistence 
is  held  to  guarantee  that  there  shall  always  be  a  vast 
number  of  persons  who  can  just  manage  to  live  miserably. 
A  rise  of  wages  will  promote  early  marriages  and  rapid 
increase  among  laborers,  until  population  is  again  checked 
by  overcrowding  and  consequent  misery  and  death.  So 
wise  a  man  as  John  Stuart  Mill  allowed  his  economic 
philosophy  to  be  overshadowed  by  this  idea. 

Henry  George  ridiculed  the  Malthusian  explanation  of 
poverty,  and  offered  an  all-sufficient  explanation  of  his  own, 
which  is,  substantially,  that  poverty  exists,  on  the  one  hand, 
because  the  landlord  receives  in  rent  so  large  a  share  of  the 
annual  product ;  on  the  other,  because  private  property  in 
land  encourages  the  withholding  of  natural  resources  from 
use,  the  owners  waiting  to  obtain  an  unearned  increment. 


34  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Since  the  owner  of  land  receives  wealth  without  labor  to 
an  increasing  extent  with  the  development  of  society,  there 
must  be  an  increasing  number  of  those  who  labor  but 
receive  little  or  nothing. 

Opposed  to  both  these  explanations  of  the  existence  of 
poverty  is  that  of  the  socialists,  who  follow  for  the  most 
part  Karl  Marx's  analysis  of  capitalistic  production.  Re- 
duced to  a  sentence  by  Dr.  Aveling,  this  explanation  of 
poverty  may  be  stated  by  saying  that  labor  is  "  paid  for, 
but  not  paid."  The  consumer  pays  enough  for  the  product 
to  remunerate  the  laborer,  but  the  capitalist  retains  all 
except  what  will  barely  suffice  to  keep  the  laborer  alive. 

No  one  who  has  studied  carefully  modern  industrial 
society  can  doubt  that  each  one  of  these  causes  may  pro- 
duce a  very  considerable  amount  of  destitution.  But  no 
one  of  them,  nor  all  three  of  them  together,  can  be  taken  as 
an  adequate  explanation  of  the  existence  of  poverty.  Pro- 
fessor Seligman  states  their  fundamental  defects  in  the 
following  paragraph :  — 

"  Modern  poverty  is  bound  up  with  the  facts  of  modern  economic 
life,  and  modern  economic  life  is  a  complex  product.  To  select  any 
characteristic  feature  of  the  present  industrial  system  and  to  single  it 
out  as  responsible  for  poverty  is  naive,  but  worthless.  The  Malthu- 
sian  seizes  upon  redundant  population,  the  communist  upon  private 
property,  the  socialist  upon  property  in  means  of  production,  the 
single  taxer  upon  property  in  land,  the  cooperator  upon  competition, 
the  anarchist  upon  government,  the  anti-optionist  upon  speculation, 
the  currency  reformer  upon  metallic  money,  and  so  on.  They  all 
forget  that  widespread  poverty  lias  existed  in  the  absence  of  each  one 
of  these  alleged  causes.  Density  of  population,  private  property, 
competition,  government,  speculation,  and  money  have  each  been 
absent  at  various  stages  of  history  without  exempting  society  from 
the  curse  of  poverty.  Each  stage  has  had  a  poverty  of  its  own.  The 
causes  of  poverty  are  as  complex  as  the  causes  of  civilization  and  the 
growth  of  wealth  itself."  ^ 

1  Seligman,  "  Principles  of  Economics,"  p.  591. 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY.  35 

The  explanations  of  poverty  offered  by  theology  are 
equally  unsatisfactory.  TNIinisters  frequently  inform  us 
that  all  poverty  comes  primarily  from  vice  and  immorality, 
—  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteous- 
ness ;  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  They 
quote  David  as  saying,  "  I  have  been  young,  and  now  am  old  ; 
yet  have  I  not  seen  the  righteous  forsaken,  nor  his  seed 
begging  bread."  The  temperance  lecturer  specializes  upon 
the  preacher's  theory,  and  assures  us  that  ninety-nine  per 
cent  of  all  poverty  comes  from  the  abuse  of  intoxicants. 
The  propagandist  of  the  White  Cross  League  tells  us  that  it 
is  undoubtedly  the  abuse  of  the  sexual  nature  that  leads  to 
most  of  the  social  degradation  and  consequent  poverty  of  our 
times.  These  different  students  of  social  science,  if  such  they 
may  be  called,  all  say  that  what  men  need  to  make  them 
prosperous  is  moral  reformation  or  spiritual  regeneration. 

To  illustrate  the  complexity  of  the  conditions  of  poverty 
more  concretely :  Suppose  a  second  Robinson  Crusoe  on  a 
desert  island  under  exactly  the  same  material  conditions  as 
the  friend  of  our  childhood ;  suppose  he  spent  his  time  in 
distilling  some  kind  of  liquor,  and  subsequently  getting 
drunk ;  suppose  he  allowed  his  mand  to  wander  in  dreamy 
and  enervating  revery  upon  debasing  subjects  ;  suppose  that 
in  consequence  of  these  habits  he  neglected  his  work,  did 
not  plant  his  crops  at  the  right  time,  and  failed  to  catch  fish 
when  they  were  plentiful.  Manifestly  he  would  become  poor 
and  miserable,  might  become  diseased  from  having  insuffi- 
cient food,  and  finally  die  in  abject  want.  Poverty  in  such 
a  suppositious  case  could  not  be  traced  to  the  fact  that  an 
employer  had  cheated  the  laborer  of  wages  honestly  earned, 
or  to  the  fact  that  a  landlord  had  robbed  him  by  exacting 
rent,  nor  could  it  be  traced  to  an  excessive  increase  of 
population.  Moreover,  if  Crusoe  No.  2  had  simply  lacked 
judgment  or  skill,  he  might  have  become  poor,  although 
thoroughly  pious  and  moral.      If  he  had  built  a  canoe  that 


86  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

would  not  float,  or  a  cave  that  crumbled  in  and  injured  him, 
or  constructed  a  summer-house  that  he  did  not  need,  or  had 
not  the  ingenuity  to  devise  tools  for  his  varied  purposes,  he 
might  have  failed  to  secure  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  have 
died  in  miserable  destitution. 

Now,  if  all  these  various  causes  are  conceivably  operative 
in  the  case  of  an  isolated  person,  it  is  manifest  that  in  actual 
industrial  society  as  now  organized,  where  the  individual 
suffers  not  only  from  his  own  mistakes  and  defects,  but  also 
from  the  mistakes  and  defects  of  a  large  number  of  other 
people,  the  causes  of  destitution  must  be  indefinitely  numer- 
ous and  complicated;  and  the  man  who  says  that  he  has  found 
one  all-embracing  cause  discredits  himself  as  promptly  as  the 
physician  who  should  announce  that  he  had  found  a  single 
universal  and  all-sufficient  explanation  of  bodily  disease. 

The  second  method,  the  inductive  study  of  concrete  masses 
of  dependents,  or  case-counting,  as  it  may  be  called,  grew 
naturally  out  of  contact  with  relief  work.  Although  it  has 
been  in  use  for  twenty  years  in  this  country,  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  it  has  not  yielded  as  comprehensive 
results  as  were  first  expected  of  it,  yet  within  its  somewhat 
narrow  scope  those  results  are  surprisingly  uniform  and 
definite.  When  allowances  are  made  for  differences  of 
nationality  and  age  constitution  in  the  population,  for 
locality  as  between  city  and  country,  and  for  variations  be- 
tween incipient  and  chronic  dependence,  certain  immediate 
causes  recur  in  case  schedules  in  proportions  which  can  be 
almost  predicted  by  the  trained  student  and  charity  worker. 

Its  limitations  as  a  method  suggest  themselves,  if  we 
reflect  on  the  analogy  of  the  physician  standing  by  the 
sick-bed,  and  trying  to  learn  the  cause  of  the  disease  merely 
from  an  examination  of  the  patient.  He  may  learn  the 
immediate  or  exciting  cause  or  causes  of  sickness,  but  back 
of  these  are  the  remoter  causes  which  can  only  be  learned 
by  other  methods  of  investigation.     The  competent  physi- 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY. 


37 


%i 


cian  will  look  for  these  in  the  hereditary  constitution  of 
the  patient,  or  in  bad  conditions  of  public  sanitation  or 
personal  hygiene,  or  in  exposure  to  contagion,  or  in  the 
revelations  of  bacteriology,  or  in  unhealthy  climate  or  oc- 
cupation. But  however  thorough,  he  will  scarcely  be  able 
to  go  farther  afield  than  this  to  ascertain  those  ultimate 
economic  and  social  conditions  which  may  account  for  the 
patient's  lack  of  physical  resistance  to  disease.  This  will 
become  clear  if  we  glance  at  the  following  analysis  of  the 
causes  of  poverty.  It  is  not  intended  to  be  complete,  but 
only  to  give  in  general  outline  a  map  of  the  field. 

ANALYSIS   OF   THE   CAUSES   OF   POVERTY. 

1.  Undervitalization  and  indolence. 

2.  Lubricity. 
Characteristics. -f  3.   Specific  disease. 

4.  Lack  of  judgment. 

5.  Unhealthy  appetite. 

1.  Shiftlessness. 

2.  Self-abuse  and  sexual  excess. 

3.  Abuse  of  stimulants  and  narcotics. 

4.  Unhealthy  diet. 

5.  Disregard  of  family  ties. 

Inadequate  natural  resources. 

Bad  climatic  conditions. 

Defective  sanitation,  etc. 

Evil  associations  and  surroundings. 

Defective    legislation    and    defective    judicial    and    punitive 

machinery. 
Misdirected  or  inadequate  education. 

a.  Variations  in  value  of  money. 

b.  Changes  in  trade. 
Bad    indus-    c.    Excessive  or  ill-managed  taxation. 

trial    con-<  cZ.  Emergencies  unprovided  for. 
ditions.         e.   Undue  power  of  class  over  class. 
/.    Immobility  of  labor. 

g.  Inadequate  wages  and  irregular  employment. 
Unwise  philanthropy. 


Habits  produc- 
ing and  i^ro- 
duced  by  the 
above. 


18. 


38  AMEBIC  AN  CHARITIES. 

A  statistical  analysis  of  cases  gives  more  light  concerning 
the  subjective  causes  of  poverty  than  the  objective  causes, 
for  in  dealing  with  individuals  their  character  is  apt  to  be 
more  studied  than  their  environment.  But  even  when  en- 
vironment is  the  primary  cause  of  poverty,  the  immediate 
cause  or  coordinate  result  is  often  deterioration  of  char- 
acter. As  sickness  is  more  obvious  than  bad  sanitation,  so 
is  laziness  than  a  malarial  atmosphere,  inefficiency  than  a 
defective  educational  system.  One  who  attempts  the  analy- 
sis of  cases  is  apt  to  be  confused  by  the  fact  that  under 
the  operation  of  exactly  similar  general  causes  some  fami- 
lies are  destitute  and  some  are  not.  One  man  is  able  to 
secure  an  adequate  income  under  the  most  adverse  circum- 
stances—  unhealthy  climate,  bad  housing,  unjust  taxation, 
or  lack  of  opportunities  for  education.  Another  man,  un- 
der exactly  the  same  conditions,  will  become  destitute,  and 
the  observer  must  put  down  as  the  final  and  determining 
cause  some  defect  in  physique  or  character.  Untrained 
charity  workers  who  come  immediately  in  contact  with  the 
poor  are  very  prone  to  take  short-sighted  views  of  the 
causes  of  poverty.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  study 
the  question  from  a  philosophical  standpoint  are  apt  to  lay 
too  much  stress  on  a  single  factor  of  environment;  while 
a  third  class,  chiefly  composed  of  philanthropists  living 
among  the  poor,  arraign  the  organization  of  society  as 
tending  to  submerge  below  the  poverty  line  those  who  have 
no  power  to  defend  themselves.  The  extreme  opposition 
of  the  different  views  is  well  illustrated  by  certain  re- 
cent writers.  Mrs.  Bosanquet  declares,  "A  man's  cir- 
cumstances depend  upon  what  he  himself  is,"  and  quotes 
Professor  William  James's  phrase,  "  we  are  spinning  our 
own  fates,"  to  support  her  contention  that  the  economic 
position  of  a  class  depends  upon  the  moral  qualities  of 
the  individuals.  Thomas  W.  jMackay  regards  it  as  an  act 
of  "  unpardonable  scepticism  "  to  assume  that  whole  classes 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY.  39 

are  inflicted  with  an  inherent  incapacity  for  the  honorable 
interdependence  of  a  life  of  contract  and  exchange,  and 
points  to  the  increasing  reward  of  labor  and  the  increasing 
purchasing  power  of  its  reward. 

AVith  an  emphasis  no  less  powerful,  Robert  Hunter  places 
the  responsibility  for  dependence  upon  environment :  — 

"It  is  obvious  to  inquiring  persons  that  society,  as  a  result  of  its 
industries,  its  tenements,  its  policy  of  almost  unrestricted  immigration, 
and  its  system  of  education,  ill-adapted  in  so  many  ways  to  the  needs 
of  the  people,  causes  a  large  part  of  the  poverty  which  exists  among  us. 
For  instance,  the  aged,  after  years  of  honest  and  exacting  toil,  may 
find  themselves  at  last  thrown  out  of  work,  propertyless,  and  some- 
times penniless.  Dangerous  trades  cripple  the  bodies  and  undermine 
the  health  of  large  numbers  of  workmen,  and  almost  unrestricted 
immigration  helps  to  increase  an  already  too  intense  competition  for 
wages  in  the  underpaid,  unskilled  trades,  with  the  result  that  the 
whole  mass  is  more  or  less  in  poverty  all  the  time,  and  a  certain  per- 
centage finds  it  necessary  actually  to  apply  periodically  for  charitable 
relief.  The  greed  for  profits  on  the  part  of  the  owners  of  tenement- 
house  property  has  so  interfered  with  the  enactment  and  enforcement 
of  laws  establishing  certain  minimum  sanitary  standards  that  a  con- 
siderable number  of  working  people  have  their  labor  power  diminished 
or  destroyed  by  tuberculosis  and  other  diseases.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible to  question  the  responsibility  of  society  for  such  common  and 
widespread  causes  of  poverty.  After  the  economic  independence  has 
been  destroyed,  so-called  charity  undermines  the  character  of  the  poor 
either  by  private  alms  or  by  public  outdoor  relief."  ^ 

Each  of  these  types  of  observers  has,  indeed,  seized  upon 
a  portion  of  the  truth ;  the  questions  of  character  are  very 
far  from  insignificant,  but  so  long  as  it  is  impossible  to 
measure  accurately  all  the  forces  within  and  without  the 
individual  which  tend  to  push  him  above  or  below  the  line 
of  economic  independence,  it  will  be  necessary  to  study  the 
combined  operation  of  character,  circumstance,  and  environ- 
ment in  accounting  for  his  failure. 

The  third  and  latest  method  of  studying  the  causes  of 

1  Hunter,  "  Poverty,"  pp.  66-67. 


40  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

poverty  is  also  statistical,  but  on  a  much  broader  basis  than 
the  classification  of  dependents.  Beginning  with  the  com- 
prehensive work  of  Charles  Booth  in  London,  it  has  been 
applied  to  the  city  of  York,  England,  by  Rowntree ;  more 
recently  to  the  anthracite  coal  regions  of  Pennsylvania  by 
Peter  Eoberts,  and  to  a  district  of  New  York  City  by  Mrs. 
Louise  Bolaud  More.  Its  essential  feature  is  the  compara- 
tive study  of  a  whole  section  of  population  in  order  to 
ascertain  the  proportion  of  the  poor  and  the  conditions 
of  their  life  which  tend  to  drive  them  into  a  position  of 
dependence.  To  this  class  of  studies  belongs  the  report  of 
1903  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  on  the  Cost 
of  Living  and  many  other  labor  reports,  the  investigations 
of  occupational  morbidity  and  mortality,  and  nearly  all  the 
first-hand  descriptions  of  the  industrial  strata  of  society. 

It  is  evident  that  such  a  method  has  a  breadth  and  per- 
spective which  give  it  superior  value;  but  it,  too,  has  its 
pitfalls  and  limitations.  If  pursued  on  a  scale  large  enough 
to  give  a  true  picture  of  a  representative  section  of  the  pop- 
ulation, it  is  liable  to  lack  the  intimate  personal  knowledge 
of  individuals  without  which  all  statistics  may  become  mis- 
leading. If  pursued  on  a  small  scale,  intensively,  by  workers 
familiar  with  the  people  themselves,  it  may  be  distorted  by 
local  peculiarities  and  by  the  bias  of  the  investigator.  Re- 
turning once  more  to  the  analogy  of  medical  practice :  in 
the  first  case,  the  physician  is  in  the  position  of  a  health 
ofiicer  gathering  information  for  the  determination  of  birth 
and  death  rates  and  for  the  prevention  of  epidemic  diseases  ; 
in  the  second,  he  is  a  specialist  in  danger  of  diagnosing  all 
ailments  as  partaking  of  the  characteristics  of  his  specialty. 

As  the  case-counting  method  tends  to  emphasize  unduly 
the  subjective  and  immediate  causes,  so  the  pictorial  method 
is  apt  to  bring  out  the  industrial  and  environmental  causes; 
but  all  these  methods,  beginning  with  the  inductive,  have 
had  a  natural  historical  sequence.     The  early  social  phi- 


CAUSES   OF  FOVEUTY.  41 

losophers  sketched  from  afar  some  conspicuous  feature  of 
the  field;  the  relief  workers  fixed  their  attention  upon  the 
miserable  in  need  and  their  obvious  characteristics ;  the 
latest  comers  are  trying  to  present  a  complete  pictiire  of 
the  whole  territory.  With  the  contribution  of  each  observer, 
the  details  of  the  picture  are  becoming  more  accurate  as  well 
as  complete ;  with  the  result  that,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
treatment  of  dependents  is  becoming  more  adequate  and 
sympathetic,  while,  on  the  other,  all  philanthropists  alike 
are  uniting  in  a  concerted  attack  upon  those  conditions  of 
society  which  make  dependence  inevitable. 

Turning  from  the  discussion  of  the  various  methods  of 
ascertaining  the  causes  of  poverty,  we  take  up  the  considera- 
tion of  the  investigations  conducted  on  the  case-counting 
principle.  The  conclusions  from  these  will  vary  widely 
according  to  the  particular  class  of  destitute  persons  under 
observation.  Professor  Henderson,  after  enumerating  four 
general  classes  of  dependents,  —  dependent  children,  those 
receiving  partial  relief  in  their  homes,  those  receiving  insti- 
tutional relief,  and  the  abnormal  and  defective  classes,  — 
remarks  that  a  general  average  of  the  grand  totals  of  the 
causes  of  poverty  of  these  classes  would  not  only  be  of  no 
value,  but  would  be  positively  misleading,  as  among  these 
different  classes  a  principal  cause  of  poverty  would  vary 
widely,  and  in  particular  instances  might  not  exist  at  all. 
The  first  precaution,  therefore,  in  drawing  conclusions  from 
charity  cases,  as  in  every  other  kind  of  statistics,  is  to  make 
sure  that  the  classes  compared  are  fairly  comparable. 

But  when  this  difficulty  is  overcome,  a  greater  one  arises 
—  the  difficulty  of  deciding  what  is  the  principal  cause  of 
dependence  in  particular  cases.  A  man  is  drunk  and  breaks 
his  leg ;  is  the  cause  of  his  helplessness  accident  or  drink  ? 
When  this  question  was  submitted  to  a  group  of  charity 
organization  workers,  it  was  promptly  answered  by  two  of 
them ;  but  their  answers  were  different.     A  man  is  out  of 


42  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

work  because  he  is  lazy  and  inefficient ;  one  has  to  know 
him  quite  well  before  one  can  be  sure  that  laziness  is  the 
cause.  An  experienced  charity  agent  asked  in  conference 
how  far  back  it  was  necessary  to  go  to  determine  the  prin- 
cipal cause  in  the  following  instances  :  — 

"I  have  a  widow  and  six  children  ;  her  husband  fell  off  a  wagon 
when  drunk  and  was  killed  ;  should  I  put  down  drunkenness  as  the 
cause  ?  I  have  a  case  of  a  boy  who  received  no  proper  training  be- 
cause his  father  was  a  drunkard  ;  shall  I  put  that  poverty  to  drunken- 
ness? I  have  a  case  of  a  family  where  four  girls,  one  after  the  other, 
died  of  consumption,  and  I  believe  the  cause  to  be  that  they  had  a 
drunken  father  who  did  not  feed  them,  and  who  left  them  to  live  in 
improper  conditions,  but  who  died  ten  years  ago.  Shall  I  say  that 
the  cause  in  that  case  is  drunkenness  or  sickness  ?"  ^ 

Among  thousands  of  dependants  it  has  been  found  that 
there  are  very  few  whose  destitution  resulted  from  a  single 
cause.  In  order  to  represent  the  variety  and  relative  pro- 
portions of  the  factors  leading  to  pauperism,  several  ways 
of  combining  principal  and  subsidiary  causes  have  been 
devised.  Charles  Booth,  in  his  study  of  the  pauperism  of 
Stepney  and  St.  Pancras,  tabulated  the  contributory  with 
the  principal  causes ;  and  as  indicating  the  results  to  be  got 
from  this  method,  his  table  is  given  on  the  opposite  page. 

In  this  table  sickness,  which  operated  as  a  principal  cause 
in  26  per  cent  of  all  cases,  was  a  contributory  cause  in  13 
per  cent  more ;  drink,  which  accounted  in  the  first  place  for 
the  dependence  of  12.6  per  cent,  aggravated  the  situation  of 
13  per  cent  more.  In  short,  after  a  survey  of  the  table,  it 
can  readily  be  believed  that  some,  as  Mr.  Booth  says,  have 
been  the  foot-ball  of  all  the  causes  in  the  list. 

Professor  Mayo-Smith  tabulated  884  applicants  of  the 
New  York  Charity  Organization  Society  for  the  year  1897 
in  a  similar  way,  but  with  less  striking  results.  At  the 
suggestion  of  Professor  Warner  a  quantitative  method  was 

1  See  discussion,  N.  C.  C,  1899,  pp.  374-375. 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY. 


43 


TABLE   I. 


Principal  Causes  of  Pauperism  at  Stepney. 
{Adaptedfrom  Booth's  "  Pauperism  and  the  Endowment  of  Old  Age,"  p.  10.) 


PRINCIPAL 

CONTRIBUTORY 

CAUSES. 

it 

OR  OBVIOUS  CAUSES. 

u 

< 

■< 
S 
H 

o 

o 

Z 
ft 

a 

OS  « 

a." 

5 

2 
o 

11 

1.   Drink 

53 

27 

80 

12.6 

23 

11 

2.   Immorality  .... 

6 

10 

16 

2.6 

3 

3 

3 

1 

3.   Laziness 

10 

2 

12 

1.9 

6 

5 

1 

3 

4.  Incapacity, Temper,etc. 

17 

7 

24 

3.8 

4 

5 

2 

6 

5.   Extravagance   .     .     . 

7 

1 

8 

1.3 

4 

2 

3 

6.    Lack  of  Work  or  Trade 

Misfortune    .     .     . 

26 

2 

28 

4.4 

4 

5 

13 

7.   Accident 

25 

5 

30 

4.7 

4 

2 

1 

14 

8.    Death  of  Husband      . 

26 

26 

4.1 

3 

2 

10 

8 

9.   Desertion     .... 

3 

3 

.6 

3 

1 

1 

10.    Mental  Derangement 

3 

8 

11 

1.7 

1 

2 

2 

P8 

71 
95 

169 
208 

26.7 
32.8 

24 

22 

38 
18 

5 
44 

41 

12.    Old  Age 

113 

13.   Pauper  Asso.  and 

Heredity  .... 

6 

1 

7 

1.1 

1 

2 

2 

14.   Other  Causes     .     .     . 

9 

3 

12 

1.9 

6 

6 

2 

2 

Total  Number      .... 

373 

261 

634 

100 

85 

106 

87 

107 

Per  cent  of  Total  Cases    . 

13.0 

16.0 

13.0 

16.0 

AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


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2  -^  i  ^  ^    •  1    •    •    •   i 

^      a     2     1      o      o      «      g      S     2     :S 
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CAUSES   OF  POVERTY. 


45 


adopted  by  Mrs.  Coolidge  in  Table  11.^  The  sviin  of  the 
causes  in  each  case  was  assumed  to  be  10.  The  principal 
cause  might  count  for  5  or  more  units,  while  the  contribu- 
tory causes  might  be  5  or  less ;  as,  for  instance,  case  48, 
principal  cause  sickness  5,  contributory  causes  neglect  by 
relatives  3,  old  age  2. , 

Although  this  method  undoubtedly  presented  the  pro- 
portion of  each  influence  with  somewhat  greater  accuracy, 
it  was  found  to  be  too  complicated  for  general  use  in  the 
Charity  Organization  Societies. 

A  third  source  of  error  in  charity  statistics  is  the  varia- 
tion between  the  cause  of  distress  as  given  by  the  applicant 
and  the  causes  afterward  registered  by  the  relieving  agents. 
This  discrepancy  is  illustrated  by  the  following  tabulation 
of  800  cases  in  New  York  City. 


TABLE   III. 

Alleged  and  True  Causes  of  Poverty. 

800  cases,  C.  O.  S.,  New  York,  189&-1897  * 


fa  S 
o   £ 

S  2 

■<   a. 

m 
Z; 

IB 

1  ^ 

a] 

li 

Cause  alleged  by  Applicant      .     . 

Cause    as    determined    later    by 
Charity  Agents 

313 
184 

222 
164 

25 
166 

101 

121 

240 
64 

*  Lindsay,  N.  C.  C,  1S99,  p.  372. 


The  alleged  cause  is  often  merely  a  measure  of  the  ability 
of  the  applicant  to  gauge  the  intelligence  of  the  charity 
agent,  but  it  is  of  some  slight  value  in  throwing  light  upon 
the  character  of  the  applicant. 


1  The  same  method  was  later  adopted  by  A.   F. 
Weller,  Aiyi.  Jour,  of  Soc,  March,  1898, 


Simons  and  C.  F. 


46 


AMEEICAN  CHARITIES. 


After  making  all  possible  allowance  for  the  personal 
equation  of  the  applicant  and  the  investigator,  and  for  the 
limitations  and  inconclusiveness  of  figures  alone,  they  have 
nevertheless  a  considerable  value  as  representing  the  judg- 
ments of  those  who  are  studying  dependence  at  first  hand. 
When  it  has  been  found  that  a  great  number  of  investigators, 
at  different  times,  in  different  places,  have  reached  conclu- 
sions which,  while  varying  in  many  and  often  inexplicable 
ways,  are  yet  in  agreement  on  certain  points,  it  must  be  con- 
cluded that  the  figures  to  some  extent  reflect  actual  conditions. 
Without  pressing  these  conclusions  too  far,  and  constantly 
remembering  that  statistics  are  only  the  formal  skeleton 
of  truth,  we  may  proceed  to  discuss  what  results  have 
been  reached  by  the  case-counting  method  in  the  study  of 

dependence. 

TABLE   IV.* 

Causes  of  Poverty  in  Buffalo. 


Total. 

18T8-188T. 


Feb 
Cent. 


Lack  of  Employment  .... 

Sickness 

Accident 

Insanity  of  Breadwinner      .     . 
Insufficient  Earnings  .... 

No  Male  Support 

Imprisonment  of  Bread-winner 

Intemperance 

Shiftlessness 

Physical  Defects 

Cause  Undetermined  .... 


1873 
1268 
208 
51 
451 
397 
108 
700 
440 
525 
176 


30.2 

20.5 

3.4 

.8 

7,3 

6.4 

1.7 

11.3 

7.1 

8.4 

2.9 


Total  Number  of  Cases 


0197        100.0 


'Condensed  from  Table  III.,  p.  33,  let  ed.,  "Anieiican  Charities." 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY. 


47 


Although  the  causes  of  pauperism  had  been  enumerated 
and  discussed  in  occasional  reports  of  charitable  societies,^ 
the  first  systematic  investigation  and  tabulation  of  results 
through  a  term  of  years  appears  to  have  been  made  by  the 
Charity  Organization  Society  of  Buffalo,  New  York.  The 
table  (see  p.  46)  is  interesting  as  showing  that  the  more 
obvious  causes,  i.e.  sickness,  lack  of  employment,  intem- 
perance, and  shiftlessness,  stood  in  almost  the  same  order 
and  proportion  in  1887  as  they  appear  in  the  Charity  Organi- 
zation Society  statistics  of  a  later  time. 

The  systematic  registration  of  decisions  in  large  numbers 
of  cases  brought  out  certain  conclusions  as  to  the  general 
needs  of  applicants  for  relief.  Table  V.  shows  decisions 
averaged  for  a  total  of  42,031  cases  between  1887  and  1900. 


TABLE   V. 

Decisions   in   Cases   of  Applicants   for   Relief.* 


SHOULD  HAVE 

C.  0.  s. 
1887. 

Baltimore, 
Boston, 

New  York, 
Average, 
1891-1892. 

New  York 

C.  O.  8. 

189T-1900. 

2T,9G1  Cases. 

S294  Cases. 

5776  Cases. 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

Continuous  Relief  (not  Indoor) 
Intermittent  Relief  (not  Indoor) 
Temporary  Relief  (not  Indoor) 
Work  rather  than  Relief  .     •     . 

Indoor  Relief 

Transportation 

Visitation  and  Advice  only  .     . 

Discipline 

No  Relief 

10.3 
26.6 

40.4 

22.7 

4.0 

2.9 

20.6 

35.1 

11.6 

3.6 

7.4 

5.8 

9.0 

1.2 

.7 

28.2 

32.3 

8.9 

1.8 

6.6 

4.4 

15.9 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

*  Columns  1  and  2  from  Warner's  "American  Charities,"  1st  ed.,  pp.  29-32.   Column  3, 
N.Y.  C.  0.  S.  Pveports,  1S97-1900. 

1  Devine,  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  278-293,  Tenth  Report,  New  York 
State  Board  of  Charities,  1877. 


48  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

The  table  shows  that  approximately  oue-third  of  all  appli- 
cants needed  work  rather  than  relief,  and  nearly  another 
third  needed  intermittent  or  temporary  relief  only,  while 
almost  one-fifth  needed  either  "  discipline  "  or  no  relief  at 
all.  Charles  D.  Kellogg  of  the  New  York  Charity  Organiza- 
tion Society,  when  submitting  a  report  on  27,961  cases  in 
1887  (column  1)  to  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Corrections,  stated  that  the  logical  deduction  from  these  facts 
was  that  two-thirds  of  the  real  or  simulated  destitution  could 
be  wiped  out  by  a  more  perfect  adjustment  of  the  supply 
and  demand  for  labor,  and  a  more  enlightened  police 
administration.  The  table  further  indicates  that  charity 
organization  societies  were  dealing  largely  then  as  now, 
not  with  chronic  pauperism,  but  with  those  on  the  verge  of 
dependence. 

The  question  most  commonly  in  the  minds  of  the  inex- 
perienced students  of  this  subject  is  whether  dependence  is 
a  misfortune  or  a  fault.  In  the  first  edition  of  this  book 
Professor  Warner  compiled  an  elaborate  table  from  English, 
German,  and  American  sources,  classifying  the  causes  of 
poverty  under  two  main  heads  as  indicating  misconduct  or 
misfortune.  A  table  condensed  from  the  original,  so  as  to 
show  its  essential  features,  is  given  on  pp.  50,  51. 

The  unsatisfactoriness  of  the  table  arises  in  part  from  the 
fact  that  the  groups  of  cases  are  not  fairly  comparable.  The 
American  cases  were  applicants  for  relief,  the  English  were 
inmates  of  institutions  for  the  chronic  and  aged  poor,  and 
the  German  comprised  all  cases  of  public  relief.  The  trained 
charity  worker  would  expect,  therefore,  that  drink  and 
matters  of  employment  would  rise  high  in  American  cases 
and  fall  among  inmates  of  European  institutions,  and  the 
expectation  is  to  a  certain  extent  fulfilled.  The  very  low 
per  cent  for  drink  in  Germany  (1.3)  is  balanced  partly  by 
the  high  per  cent  for  sickness  (45.8),  for  Bohmert  explains 
that  intemperance  was  a  predisposing  cause  in  many  cases 


CAUSES  OF  POVERTY.  49 

where  the  immediate  cause  set  down  was  lack  of  work, 
accident,  imprisonment,  sickness,  or  abandonment.  The 
wide  variation  in  the  totals  for  misconduct  and  misfortune 
—  from  12  per  cent  to  42  per  cent  —  indicates  the  extreme 
differences  of  judgment  among  charity  agents  as  to  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  individual  for  his  own  dependence. 

This  is  only  another  phase  of  the  difficulty  of  deciding 
between  principal  and  contributory  causes.  For  instance, 
back  of  sickness  may  be  either  misconduct  or  misfortune ; 
the  imprisonment  of  the  breadwinner  indicates  misconduct 
on  his  part,  but  may  be  only  misfortune  on  the  part  of  his 
wife  and  children  who  apply  for  relief ;  similar  confusion 
arises  in  cases  of  children  abandoned  and  old  persons 
neglected  by  relatives.  Professor  Warner  stated  that  the 
table  was  compiled  only  "  in  deference  to  popular  inquiry," 
and  declared  his  own  opinion  that  its  value  consisted  chiefly 
"  in  showing  how  little  it  was  worth."  It.  has,  however,  a 
certain  historical  importance  as  showing  the  decline  of  a 
tendency  which  was  once  very  stroug  among  charity  workers 
to  try  to  apportion  carefully  the  degree  of  moral  blame  of 
the  individual  applicant  for  relief. 

Although  the  results  of  the  table  are  wholly  negative  as 
regards  the  determination  of  misconduct  or  misfortune,  when 
stripped  of  unessential  details  and  insignificant  variations, 
it  shows  clearly  that  in  a  large  body  of  applicants  for  relief 
in  American  cities,  certain  immediate  causes  of  poverty 
tend  to  recur  in  very  nearly  the  same  order  and  proportion 
for  a  term  of  years.  Among  such  dependents  from  25 
to  35  per  cent  will  ask  for  relief  because  of  physical  and 
mental  incapacity,  20  to  30  per  cent  because  of  lack  of  or 
unsatisfactory  employment,  and  20  to  25  per  cent  because  of 
defects  of  character.  The  fact  that  certain  specific  causes, 
especially  drink,  vary  widely  in  the  different  cities  does  not 
invalidate  this  deduction.  Intemperance,  of  all  the  list  of 
causes,  is  the  one  most  likely  to  be  affected  by  the  personal 


50 


AMERICAN  CHABITIES. 


TABLE   VI.* 
Causes  of  Poverty.  —  Misconduct  vs.  Misfortune. 


Locality      .          

Baltimore 

Boston 

Buffalo 

Report  of 

C.  0.  S. 

A.  C. 

C.  0.  S. 

Number  of  Cases 

1385 

2083 

8235 

1890-2 

1890-2 

1878-92 

CAUSES. 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

Drink 

8.0 

20.5 

'  7.2 
1.4 

.8 

7.8 

ImrDorality      .          

Crime  and  Dishonesty 

Roving  Disposition 

13.0 

.8 

1.4 

4.3 

Total  Misconduct 

23.2 

29.9 

12.1 

Imprisonment  of  Breadwinner   .     .     . 
Orphans  and  Abandoned  Children .     . 

Neglect  by  Relatives 

No  Male  Support 

.4 

.9 

1.7 

4.6 

1.6 
.7 
.9 

6.0 

2.0 

13.8 

Total  —  No  Normal  Support     .     . 

7.5 

9.2 

15.8 

Insufficient  Employment 

Poorly  Paid  Employment 

Unhealthy  and  Dangerous  Employment 

12.5 

8.5 

5.0 

.3 

14.2 

5.5 

.9 

.4 

27.5 
1.7 
6.0 

Total  —  Employment      .... 

26.3 

21.0 

35.2 

Ignorance  of  English 

Sickness  or  Death  in  Family      .     .     . 
Insanity 

.4 

4.0 

20.2 

6.0 

.8 
6.0 

.8 

2.9 

24.0 

2.4 

.6 
4.1 

4.6 

24.6 

5.3 

.9 

Old  Age 

Total  —  Personal  Capacity  .     .     . 

37.4 

34.8 

35.4 

Total  Misfortune 

71.2 

65.0 

86.4 

Unclassified  or  Unknown 

5.6 

5.1 

1.5 

♦  Condensed  from  Table  IV.,  p.  86,  Ist  ed.  of  Warner's  "  American  Charities." 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY. 


51 


TABLE  VI.    {Continued). 
Causes  of  Poverty.  —  Misconduct  vs.  Misfortune. 


Cincinnati 

New  York 

Stepney 

St.  Pancras 

76  German 
Cities 

Total 

A.  C. 

C.  0.  s. 

Booth 

Booth 

Bohmert 

4844 

1412 

634 

736 

95,845 

1890-92 

1891 

1892 

1892 

1886 

Average 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

11.1 

12.9 
1.9 
5.3 

10.7 

'  7.2 
1.4 
3.3 

12.6 
2.5 

7.0 

21.9 

6.9 

13.4 

1.3 
*  1.4 

11.6 
'  9.2 

31.2 

22.6 

22.1 

42.2 

2.7 

23.2 

.7 
1.0 

.8 
7.1 

.6 
.1 
.5 

7.2 

"  4.6 

'2.8 

1.7 

5.6 

.6 

2.5 

9.6 

8.4 

4.6 

2.8 

10.4 

8.5 

10.5 

7.2 

4.2 

.5 

29.0 
6.1 
2.5 

4.4 

2.2 

12.5 

.  .   . 

22.4 

37.6 

4.4 

2.2 

12.5 

20.8 

.8 

2.3 

15.0 

2.5 

.6 
3.0 

.4 

3.3 
18.5 

2.7 

.7 

3.3 

'  4.7 
26.7 

i.7 

32.8 

'2.6 

20.7 

'4.3 
23.4 

'  i.i 

45.8 
2.4 
3.4 

15.8 

24.4 

24.2 

28.9 

64.9 

51.0 

68.5 

43.1 

56.2 

74.9 

74.0 

56.0 

91.4 

71.0 

12.6 

2.5 

4.0 

1.8 

5.9 

.  .  . 

62  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

bias  of  the  relief  agent,  and  about  which  there  is  a  wide  dif- 
ference of  opinion  as  to  whether  it  is  a  true  cause — in  the 
sense  of  moral  responsibility  —  or  merely  a  symptom.  It 
exhibits  more  than  any  other  cause  the  limitations  of  the 
case- counting  method. 

The  fact  that  sickness,  unemployment,  and  moral  defect 
tend  to  recur  in  a  definite  order  and  proportion  is  more 
clearly  shown  in  Table  VII.,  in  which  31,637  cases  are 
arranged  and  averaged  in  the  same  way  as  in  Table  VI.  and 
compared  with  Professor  Warner's  averages  from  7225  cases 
of  the  same  class. 

We  notice  first  that  all  causes  definitely  reflecting  the  char- 
acter of  the  individual  vary  only  between  23.3  and  25.1.  The 
most  important  of  these,  drink,  averages  14.6,  going  as  low 
as  7.2  in  Baltimore  and  as  high  as  21.7  in  Boston.  Nearly, 
but  not  quite  so  important,  is  shiftlessness  and  inefficiency ; 
it  ranges  between  the  relatively  narrow  limits  of  6.1  and 
9.5.  The  lack  of  normal  support  has,  too,  a  tolerably  con- 
stant influence  of  6.3  to  8.3. 

The  causes  grouped  under  the  heading  "  matters  of  employ- 
ment" account  for  a  third  of  the  destitution  dealt  with  by 
American  societies.  The  percentage  for  Boston  is  lowest 
and  for  New  York  highest,  but  the  results  for  New  York 
show  the  effect  of  the  five  years,  1893-1898,  following  the 
panic,  which  are  only  partially  covered  by  the  figures  for 
Boston  and  Baltimore. 

Under  incapacity,  insanity  and  physical  defect  exert  a 
minor  but  quite  constant  influence.  The  small  though  con- 
stant percentage  attributable  to  old  age  is  probably  due  to 
the  fact  that  these  societies  are  for  the  most  part  dealing 
with  people  who  are  still  struggling  against  pauperism,  or 
are  at  any  rate  still  mixed  with  the  ordinary  population  of 
the  cities  where  they  live. 

So  far  as  Table  VI.  and  Table  VII.  show,  the  most  constant 
causes  of  poverty,  everywhere,  at  all  times,  and  according 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY. 


53 


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54 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


to  all  investigators,  are  sickness  and  unemployment.  The 
percentage  of  sickness  falls  to  17.6  in  New  York  and  reaches 
26.0  in  Boston  —  the  average  is  22.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  significant  results  from  these  tables.  It  was  not  an- 
ticipated by  the  author  when  the  collection  of  the  statistics 
began  ;  but  it  has  been  confirmed  and  reconfirmed,  not  only 
by  Professor  Lindsay's  later  table,  but  in  so  many  other 
ways,  that  the  conclusion  seems  inevitable  that  the  figures 
must  approximately  set  forth  the  facts.  Personal  acquaint- 
ance with  the  destitute  classes  has  deepened  the  conviction 
that  most  of  the  causes  of  poverty  result  from  or  result  in 
weakened  physical  and  mental  constitution,  often  merging 

into  actual  disease. 

TABLE   VIIL 

13,252  Dependent  Children  in  German  Cities. 
(Bohmert,  pp.  115-116  and  127-128.) 


Cause  of  Povkrty. 

Per  Cent. 

Orphanage    

Fault  of  Guardian 

Abandonment  by  guardian 

Imprisonment  of 

Abuse  and  neglect  by 

Laziness  of 

Drunkenness  of 

Incapacity  of  Guardian 

Lack  of  work         .        .        .         .     '  . 

Large  family 

Advanced  age 

Defect,  mental  or  physical 

Other  Causes 

38.75 
25.89 

17.12 
18.24 

100.00 

Nearly  all  of  the  causes  named  might  furthermore  be 
grouped  under  the  general  heading  "incapacity."  Those 
indicating  misconduct  can  be  so  classed  if  we  are  willing  to 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY.  55 

include  under  the  term  infirmities  of  character  as  well  as  of 
body.  The  causes  which  indicate  lack  of  normal  support 
may  also  be  said  to  show  that  the  dependents  are  personally 
incapable  of  self-support,  and  that,  through  fault  or  mis- 
fortune on  the  part  of  their  natural  guardians,  they  have 
been  left  to  themselves.  The  close  relation  between  defects 
of  character  and  the  failure  of  support  is  illustrated  by 
Bohmert's  analysis  of  the  causes  of  dependence  in  children. 

The  four  causes  grouped  as  "matters  of  employment"  in 
Table  VII.  would  seem  at  first  to  be  of  a  different  nature, 
and  to  indicate  that  capable  persons  may  suffer  from  en- 
forced idleness  to  the  extent  of  becoming  paupers.  There 
are,  of  course,  such  instances;  but  those  who  have  under- 
taken the  work  of  finding  employment  for  the  unemployed, 
and  who  are  intimately  acquainted  with  the  people  about 
whom  information  is  given  in  these  tables,  know  that  most 
of  those  out  of  employment  are  not  capable  in  any  complete 
sense  of  the  term.  They  may  be  able-bodied,  but  they  are 
not  able-minded.  They  may  lack  one  thing  or  another,  but 
they  almost  always  lack  something ;  it  may  be  skill,  or 
strength,  or  judgment,  or  reliability,  or  even-temper.  Often 
the  incapacity  seems  to  consist  in  nothing  more  than  a  lack 
of  ingenuity,  which  prevents  the  person  from  fitting  himself 
into  the  industries  of  the  time.  Give  him  a  set  task  requir- 
ing little  skill,  and  he  will  do  it  gladly.  But  such  set  tasks 
are  very  few  in  modern  industry,  and  the  result  is  that  the 
individual  is  unemployed.  If  one  wanted  thoroughly  effi- 
cient help,  male  or  female,  he  would  hardly  expect  to  find 
it  among  the  "out-of-works"  with  whom  the  charitable 
societies  deal.  Back  of  the  cause  "  lack  of  work,"  ordinarily 
and  in  ordinary  times,  will  be  found  some  perversion  of 
character,  or  some  limitation  of  capacity. 

The  figures  most  nearly  comparable  with  those  of  Bohmert 
and  Booth  are  those  of  the  New  York  almshouses  in  1874- 
1875  and  1903-1904.     In  the  earlier  study  the  immediate 


56 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


causes  of  poverty  are  given ;  in  that  of  1903-1904,  merely 
the  classes  of  almshouse  inmates,  from  which  they  may  be, 
to  some  extent;  inferred. 

TABLE   IX. 
Paupers  in  Almshouses  in  New  York  in  1874-1875  and  1903-1904. 


Classes  of  Inmates. 

1S7-4-18-5.* 

190.3-1904.t 

%   BY 

Groups. 

NCMBEK. 

% 

Number. 

% 

Children  —  Orphans  or  Abandoned 

2030 

16.1 

.578 

2.6 

Homeless  Women 

278 

2.2 

Total  —  No  Support      .     .     . 

18.3 

1 

2.6 

Insane  

4047 

32.1 

304 

1.3 

Feeble-minded 

978 

7.7 

2232 

9.7 

Epileptic 

268 

2.1 

304 

1.3 

Blind 

303 

2.4 

617 

2.7 

Deaf  Mute 

29 

.2 

114 

.4 

Paralytic 

322 

2.5 

1208 

5.2 

Crippled,  Maimed,  and  Deformed 

257 

2.0 

3482 

15.2 

Old  and  Infirm 

2081 

16.5 

4920 

21.4 

Bedridden  or  Diseased      .     .     . 

1258 

9.9 

356 

1.5 

Rheumatic 

1879 

8.2 

Total  —  Defect  and  Disease  . 

75.4 

66.9 

Vagrant  and  Idle 

767 

6.1 

Able-bodied 

4000t 

17.4 

Other  and  Unknown     .... 

.2 

2872 

13.2 

Total  in  Almshouses     .     .     . 

12,614 

100.0 

22,866§ 

100.0 

*  From  Report  N.T.  State  Board  of  Charities,  1877. 
t  From  U.  S.  Census,  1904,  "Paui)ers  in  Almshouses." 
X  Estimated  on  basis  of  percentage  for  whole  North  Atlantic  Division. 
§  Comprises  10,793  enumerated  in  almshouses,  Dec.  81,  1908,  plus  12,073  admitted 
in  1904. 

Although  these  figures  are  not  in  all  respects  comparable, 
they  show  that  the  lack  of  normal  support  formerly  accounted 
for  18  per  cent  of  the  inmates ;  but  since  the  removal  of 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY.  57 

children  to  other  institutions,  the  percentage  has  fallen  to 
2,5.  In  1874-1875  75.4  per  cent  of  the  inmates  were  defec- 
tive or  diseased  —  one-third  of  them  being  insane ;  with  the 
removal  of  the  insane  from  almshouses  to  hospitals,  the  per- 
centage of  the  incapacitated  has  fallen  to  66.9.  The  table 
indicates  further  how  widely  the  causes  of  dependence 
among  inmates  of  institutions  vary  from  those  who  are  only 
applicants  for  relief. 

Of  51,460  paupers  admitted  to  almshouses  in  the  United 
States  in  1904,  67  per  cent  were  "  incapacitated."  In  such 
institutions  "drink,"  as  a  direct  cause  of  poverty,  is  of 
slight  importance,  although  it  may  have  been  the  original 
cause  of  much  of  the  incapacity.  Of  those  enumerated  in 
almshouses  in  1903  only  15.8  per  cent  were  able-bodied,  and 
of  those  admitted  during  1904,  30  per  cent;  but  a  very 
large  proportion  of  these  were  unquestionably  shiftless, 
inefficient,  and  vagrant,  unemployable  rather  than  the 
unemployed. 

As  the  first  question  popularly  asked  regarding  the  causes 
of  poverty  would  probably  be  whether  poverty  indicates 
misconduct  or  misfortune,  so  the  second  would  probably  be : 
What  are  the  indications  as  to  the  tendency  of  different 
nationalities  or  races  to  become  poor?  For  the  purpose  of 
finding  what  answer  could  be  obtained  to  this  question, 
Table  X.  was  prepared,  giving  the  facts  regarding  7225 
American  cases.  Of  the  Americans,  Germans,  Colored, 
Irish,  and  English  there  were  enough  cases  in  each  column 
to  make  the  percentages  tolerably  trustworthy  ;  while  of  the 
French,  Polish,  Spanish,  Italian,  Scandinavian,  and  other 
nationalities  the  numbers  were  too  small  to  make  the 
relative  figures  of  much  value. 

As  to  "  drink,"  we  find  a  general  average  of  15.28  per 
cent.  The  Americans  are  slightly  below,  and  the  English 
slightly  above,  this  average.  The  Irish  have  a  larger  per- 
centage under  this  head  than  any  other  nationality,  23.62. 


58 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


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CAUSES   OF  POVERTY.  59 

The  Germans  are  far  below  it,  7.83  per  cent,  and  the  Colored 
still  farther,  6.23  per  cent.  This  low  percentage  has  been 
corroborated  by  the  investigations  of  John  Koren,  whose 
conclusions  are  :  that  comparatively  few  negroes  are  habitual 
drunkards ;  that  intemperance  is  only  accountable  for  a 
small  part  of  the  negro's  poverty ;  and  that  only  in  excep- 
tional cases  are  drinking  habits  a  barrier  to  steady  employ- 
ment.^ 

In  "  shiftlessness  and  inefficiency  "  the  Americans  lead 
all  other  well-represented  nationalities,  having  here  a  per- 
centage of  9.19,  as  against  an  average  of  7.51.  The  Irish 
here  fall  much  below  the  average,  5.78  per  cent. 

"  Matters  of  employment  "  vary  less  in  relative  importance 
as  between  the  different  nationalities,  and  the  same  is  true 
of  "accident"  and  "  physical  defects."  Under  the  very  im- 
portant heading  of  '^  sickness  "  we  find  one  decided  variation. 
The  average  for  this  cause  is  22.27  per  cent,  and  all  the 
largely  represented  nationalities  conform  quite  closely  to  this 
average  with  one  exception:  the  cases  of  colored  people 
show  a  percentage  for  sickness  of  39.63,  a  rate  that  comes 
near  to  being  the  double  of  the  average,  and  is  the  double  of 
the  percentage  for  this  cause  among  the  Irish. 

Those  who  know  the  colored  people  only  casually  or  by 
hearsay  may  be  surprised  to  find  the  misconduct  causes 
running  so  low  among  them,  while  sickness  as  a  cause  is  of 
greater  relative  importance  than  in  any  other  nationality. 
But  to  one  who  has  worked  in  Baltimore  or  Washington  it 
seems  a  natural  result,  and  indeed  a  confirmation  of  the  re- 
liability of  the  statistics.  The  colored  people  are  weak 
physically,  become  sick  easily,  and  often  die  almost  with- 
out visible  resistance  to  disease.  At  the  same  time  they 
have  a  dread  of  being  assisted,  especially  when  they  think 
an  institution  will  be  recommended ;  and  this,  together  with 
a  certain  apathy,  will  often  induce  them  to  endure  great 

1  Koren  (Committee  of  Fifty),  "  Economic  Aspects,"  etc.,  p.  176. 


60  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

privations  rather  than  ask  for  help.  Besides  this,  there  are 
many  associations  among  them  for  mutual  help,  and  the 
criminal  and  semi-criminal  men  have  a  brutal  way  of  making 
their  women  support  them.  That  the  percentage  for  ''  lack 
of  work,"  17.42,  is  the  lowest,  and  that  for  "  insufficient 
employment "  is  the  highest,  under  these  two  heads,  per- 
haps reflects  their  hand-to-mouth  way  of  working  at  odd  jobs 
rather  than  taking  steady  work. 

In  order  to  find  out  whether  the  differences  we  have  noted 
between  the  nationalities  are  constant  for  different  places 
and  according  to  different  observers,  the  same  figures  were 
arranged  by  causes  and  cities  for  each  nationality.  On  the 
whole,  there  were  no  variations  that  need  destroy  our  con- 
fidence in  the  general  average. 

A  classification  in  Table  XI.  of  4176  Boston  and  New 
York  cases  according  to  the  number  of  persons  in  a  family, 
and  by  nationality,  confirms  the  indication  of  Table  IV., 
that  large  families  is  a  relatively  unimportant  cause  of 
destitution. 

Unmarried  persons  with  no  one  dependent  upon  them  are 
not  included  in  this  table.  The  largest  single  family  is 
found  among  the  colored  people ;  but  the  largest  proportion 
of  relatively  large  families,  those  numbering  from  five  to 
nine  persons  each,  is  found  among  the  Italians  and  the 
Poles  and  Russians.  The  families  of  paupers  or  semi- 
paupers  usually  average  smaller  than  those  of  the  popula- 
tion as  a  whole,  partly  because  the  number  among  classes 
degenerate  enough  to  be  dependent  is  not  as  large  as  is  or- 
dinarily supposed,  partly  because  of  a  high  infant  mortality, 
and  partly  because  the  families  of  these  classes  tend  to 
disintegrate  rapidly,  children  drifting  away  from  parents, 
and  aged  parents  in  their  turn  being  shaken  off  by  adult 
children.^    The  "  family,"  therefore,  which  applies  for  relief 

1  In  a  study  of  Almshouse  Women  in  San  Francisco,  it  was  found  that 
out  of  a  hundred  and  eighty-four  living  children,  forty  were  "some- 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY. 


61 


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62 


AMERICAN   CHABITIES. 


is  often  only  the  fragment  of  a  family.  That  large  families 
are  not  a  principal  cause  of  dependence  is  still  further 
illustrated  by  the  experience  of  the  Associated  Charities  of 
Boston :  ^ 

MARRIED  COUPLES:  BOTH  MAN  AND  "WOMAN 

BETWEEN    20    AND    40    TEARS    OF    AGE. 


Without  Children  .     .  .  . 

With  One  Child      .     .  .  . 

With  Two  Children    .  .  . 

With  Three  Children  .  . 

With  Four  Children  .  .  . 

With  Five  Children    .  .  . 
With  Six  or  More  Children 


Number. 

Per  Cent. 

39 

12.71 

56 
65 

18.3 
21.3 

■70.9 

57 

18.6  J 

50 

16.3] 

20 

6.5  [28.7 

18 

5.9 

The  society  reported  that  in  at  least  two  out  of  three  of 
these  families  distress  was  due  to  preventable  causes,  of 
which  moral  delinquency  was  the  chief. 

Table  XII.  gives  a  classification  of  applicants  for  relief 
by  marital  condition  and  nationality. 

Of  those  applying  to  the  charity  organization  societies 
more  than  half  are  married  people  living  together,  about 
one-half  the  remainder,  or  one-quarter  of  the  whole,  are 
widows,  and  nearly  one-tenth  are  deserted  wives.  In  recent 
years  much  attention  has  been  given  to  family  desertion,  and 
it  is  believed  that  it  is  increasing.  Several  studies  of  such 
families  have  been  made,  notably  one  in  1905  by  Lilian 
Brandt,  in  which  the  typical  male  deserter  is  described  as 
"young,  able-bodied,  more  or  less  dissipated,  capable  of 
earning  good  wages,  but  rarely  in  the  mood  for  making  the 
exertion,  and  above  all,  he  is  lacking  in  the  quality  which 

where  "  ;  that  is,  they  had  been  separated  from  the  mother  in  one  way  or 
another  and  she  no  longer  knew  where  they  were.  —  American  Statistical 
Association,  vol.  iv.,  1895,  p.  237. 

1  Twenty-third  Annual  Report,  1902,  p.  62. 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY. 


63 


makes  an  obligation  to  others  outweigh  considerations  of 
personal  comfort  or  preference."  As  to  the  consequence  of 
desertion  in  these  574  families,  "  259  received  relief  amount- 
ing to  nearly  f  9000  and  this  was  a  mere  fraction  of  the 
total;  90  of  the  families  were  broken  up  temporarily  or 
permanently ;  132  children  were  introduced  to  institution 
life  or  boarded  out.  Other  children  were  deprived  of  a  fair 
start  in  life."  ^ 

TABLE   XII. 

Cases  by  Marital  Condition  and  Cities. 
Charity  Organization  Society  Reports. 


New  York,* 

Boston, 

Baltimobe, 

New  Haven, 

1890-1892. 

New  York, 
1S96-1900. 
8638  Cases. 

Boston, 

1S99-1905. 
5529  Cases. 

8028  Cases. 

Married 

47.7 

64.71 

53.5 

Widows 

23.7 

23.21 

24.7 

Deserted  Wives 

6.9 

6.89 

9.4 

Single  Women 

5.6 

2.39 

6.6 

Deserted  Husbands  and  Widowers 

4.8 

2.30 

2.9 

Single  INIen 

10.6 

1.02 

2.9 

Orphans     

.3 

.31 

.2 

Divorced 

.4 

.13 

.7 

Miscellaneous 

.2 

Total 

100.0 

100.00 

100.0 

*  Arranged  from  Table  XII.,  "Warner's  1st  ed. 

The  small  percentage  of  single  men  in  later  years,  as  shown 
in  Table  XII.,  is  due  to  the  differentiation  of  charities,  this 
class  being  treated  by  other  agencies  than  the  charity  or- 
ganization societies. 

1  "  Five  Hundred  and  Seventy-four  Deserters  and  Their  Families," 
pp.  61-62. 


64  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

A  matter  which  is  not  brought  out  by  the  tables  thus  far 
given,  but  which  is  well  shown  by  the  collateral  investiga- 
tions of  the  different  agencies,  is  the  large  number  of  chil- 
dren either  dragged  into  pauperism  by  the  destitution  of 
their  parents  or  entirely  abandoned  by  them.  In  the  in- 
vestigation of  almshouse  pauperism,  of  course,  this  is  not 
brought  out,  as  the  children  have  been  put  in  other  institu- 
tions, and  are  beyond  the  view  of  the  investigator.  But 
where  the  cases  are  studied  as  they  cross  the  pauper  line, 
the  large  number  of  children  is  striking.  Of  8638  persons 
dealt  with  by  the  New  York  Charity  Organization  Society 
in  1896-1900,  48  per  cent  were  under  fourteen  ;  and  in  Bos- 
ton from  1899-1905,  of  5529  cases  coming  under  the  care  of 
the  Associated  Charities,  46  per  cent  were  under  fourteen. 
On  the  whole,  it  may  be  concluded  that,  while  the  leading 
cause  of  confirmed  pauperism,  as  investigated  by  Mr.  Booth 
in  England,  is  the  weakness  of  old  age,  the  leading  cause  of 
incipient  pauperism,  as  investigated  by  the  American  Charity 
Organization  Societies,  is  the  weakness  of  childhood. 

Taking  this  in  connection  with  the  large  percentage  of 
pauperism  which  is  constantly  and  everywhere  attributed  to 
sickness  and  physical  defect,  we  have  a  striking  confirma- 
tion of  the  conclusion  reached  by  Dugdale  in  his  study  of 
the  Jukes.     He  says :  — 

"  1.  Pauperism  is  an  indication  of  weakness  of  some  kind,  either 
youth,  disease,  old  age,  injury,  or,  for  women,  childbirth. 

"2.  Hereditary  pauperism  rests  chiefly  upon  disease  in  some  form, 
tends  to  terminate  in  extinction,  and  may  be  called  the  sociological 
aspect  of  physical  degeneration." 

We  find,  phrasing  our  conclusions  in  medical  terms,  that 
the  commonest  exciting  cause  of  the  poverty  that  approaches 
pauperism  is  incapacity,  resulting  in  most  chronic  cases  from 
sickness  or  other  degenerate  and  degenerating  conditions. 
"Weakness  of  some  sort  is  the  most  typical  characteristic 
of  the  destitute  classes.     The  predisposing  causes  of  this 


CAUSES   OF  POVERTY.  65 

degeneration  and  weakness  are  next  to  be  sought  for.  A 
physician  turns  from  diagnosing  a  case  to  inquire  for  pre- 
disposing causes,  first  in  the  habits  and  heredity  of  the  in- 
dividual, and  secondly  in  the  nature  of  his  occupation,  or 
other  conditions  of  life.  In  Chapter  III.  we  will  consider 
some  of  the  predisposing  causes  of  degeneration  which  per- 
tain to  the  individual ;  and  in  the  succeeding  chapter  some 
of  those  which  pertain  to  environment. 


CHAPTER  III. 

SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES  OP  DEGENERATION. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  dealt  with  the  principal 
causes  of  poverty  and  their  relative  proportions  as  ascertained 
by  the  case-counting  method.  In  order  to  gather  up  the 
results  of  this  method  still  more  completely  we  shall  now 
consider  personal  habits  and  characteristics,  and  the  influence 
of  stock  and  family  through  heredity  ;  that  is,  the  charac- 
teristics and  habits  of  the  individual  himself  which  render 
him  incapable  or  likely  to  become  so ;  first,  as  to  their  nature, 
and,  finally,  as  to  their  origin.  For  it  is  to  bad  habits  that 
the  ordinary  observer  attributes  a  large  part  of  the  misery 
of  the  world  ;  and  as  immediate  causes  of  degeneration,  they 
undoubtedly  have  great  influence.  Intemperance,  that  is, 
the  abuse  of  alcoholic  drinks,  has  long  been  held  to  be  a 
principal  cause  —  by  many  the  cause  —  of  crime,  pauperism, 
and  poverty.  The  earlier  American  observers  attributed 
from  50  to  75  per  cent  of  misery  to  it,  but  these  were  esti- 
mates merely,  not  based  on  statistics.^  During  the  last  dec- 
ade of  the  nineteenth  century  a  number  of  careful  statistical 
inquiries  were  made  which  reduced  the  factor  of  drink  to 
surprisingly  low  percentages.  In  Table  VI.  (pp.  50,  51)  the 
figures  range  from  20.5  per  cent  to  8  per  cent  —  an  average  for 
five  cities  of  11.8  per  cent;  in  Professor  Lindsay's  table  (p. 
53)  the  average  for  New  York,  Boston,  and  Baltimore  is  13.7 
per  cent.     The  figures  of  foreign  tables  go  as  low  or  lower. 

1  De  Gerando,  "Bienfaisance  Publique,"  1839,  vol.  i.,  p.  318;  Brace, 
"Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  1872,  pp.  05-06;  Boies,  "Prisoners 
and  Paupers,"  1893,  p.  137.  See  Devine,  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  285, 
292,  for  other  historical  references. 

66 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      67 

Bohmert's  tables  of  77  cities  of  Germany  (1888)  give  drink 
as  chief  cause  in  only  1.3  per  cent  of  90,000  cases.  Charles 
Booth  concluded  that  14  per  cent  of  primary  poverty,  13 
per  cent  of  secondary  poverty,  and  15  per  cent  of  pauperism 
in  workhouses  was  due  to  intemperance.  Rowntree  omits 
drink  altogether  as  an  immediate  cause  of  primary  poverty, 
but  says  that  it  is  a  predominant  one  of  secondary  poverty. 
Without  attempting  for  the  present  to  account  for  the  ap- 
parent decline  of  the  percentages  of  drink  as  a  cause  of 
poverty,  we  may  turn  to  a  very  thorough  study  of  intem- 
perance as  related  to  crime,  pauperism,  and  poverty  made  in 
1896-1898  for  the  Committee  of  Fifty  by  John  Koren.^  The 
statistics  for  the  section  on  the  liquor  problem  in  its  relation 
to  poverty  were  secured  by  33  Charity  Organization  Societies 
representing  the  same  number  of  cities  in  18  states  and  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

The  general  conclusion  of  these  figures  was  that  of  the 
29,923  cases,  18.46  per  cent  owed  their  poverty  to  the 
personal  use  of  liquor,  2.07  per  cent  to  the  intemperate 
habits  of  one  or  both  parents,  .45  per  cent  to  the  intemper- 
ate habits  of  natural  or  legal  guardians,  and  7.39  per  cent  to 
the  intemperate  habits  of  others,  not  parents  or  guardians. 
The  general  average  percentage  of  poverty  due  directly  or 
indirectly  to  drink  was  25.06.  Table  XIII.,  rearranged 
from  Koren,  shows  the  direct  and  indirect  effect  of  the  use 
of  liquor  by  race. 

In  respect  to  race,  Table  XIII.  shows  conclusively  that 
drink,  both  as  a  direct  and  indirect  cause  of  poverty,  is  more 
prevalent  among  the  white  than  among  the  colored,  almost 
in  the  proportion  of  two  to  one.     The  figures  for  the  seven 

1  Koren,  "  Economic  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem,"  1899.  The  Com- 
mittee of  Fifty  is  an  organization  of  distinguished  private  persons,  of 
varied  religious  and  social  vievrs,  who  have  supplied  the  money,  engaged 
expert  service,  and  published  the  results  of  a  comprehensive  research  into 
the  liquor  question.  See  Bibliography  for  the  four  publications  already 
issued. 


68 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


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SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  BEGENEBATION.      69 

cities  containing  the  largest  number  of  colored  applicants 
are  even  more  favorable  to  the  negro  race ;  and  the  average 
(7.1)  corresponds  quite  closely  to  that  of  Professor  Warner 
(6.23)  already  noted. 

It  is  generally  accepted  that  intemperance  is  preeminently 
a  masculine  vice;  and  among  these  applicants  for  relief, 
only  12.5  per  cent  of  women  as  against  22.7  per  cent  of 
men  have  become  dependent  through  drink.  It  is,  however, 
when  we  note  the  percentages  of  drink  as  an  indirect  cause 
that  the  misery  of  women  on  account  of  it  becomes  apparent. 
Of  the  female  applicants,  17  per  cent  as  compared  with  3.8 
per  cent  of  the  male  applicants  owed  their  condition  to  the 
intemperate  habits  of  others.^ 

Table  XIV.  exhibits  the  intemperate  habits  of  applicants 
for  relief  by  nativity.  The  comparison  of  nationalities  is 
somewhat  unsatisfactory,  owing  to  the  small  numbers  repre- 
sented. For  instance,  Poland,  Italy,  Russia,  and  Austria, 
which  show  the  smallest  percentages  of  poverty  due  to 
liquor,  show  also  small  total  numbers.  If,  however,  we 
take  the  other  countries  which  are  represented  largely,  we 
see  that  Ireland  leads  with  29  per  cent  and  is  followed  by 
Canada  and  Scotland  with  21  per  cent  and  England  with  18 
per  cent.  The  native-born,  of  whom  a  majority  are  of  foreign 
parentage,  divide  the  table  in  the  middle  with  a  percentage 
of  17,  followed  by  Sweden  16  per  cent  and  Germany  14 
per  cent.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  order  of  countries  is  only 
slightly  altered  in  column  4  which  represents  the  poverty 
indirectly  due  to  intemperance. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  relation  of  intemperance  to 
pauperism  Mr.  Koren  obtained  statistics  of  8420  inmates  of 
fifty  institutions  (mostly  almshouses)  in  ten  states.  As 
regards  race,  sex,  and  nationality,  the  results  correspond  very 
closely  to  those  of  the  investigation  of  applicants  for  relief. 
The  total  number  of  negro  paupers  was  only  285,  and  less 
1  Koren,  "  Economic  Aspects,"  etc.,  pp.  65-66. 


70 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


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SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES  OF  DEGENERATION.      71 

than  half  as  many  colored  as  white  paupers  owed  their 
condition  to  personal  nse  of  liquor  and  to  the  intemperate 
habits  of  others.  The  same  nationalities  appear  in  practi- 
cally the  same  order  as  in  Table  XIV.,  but  the  percentages 
for  pauperism  due  to  personal  use  and  intemperance  of 
others  are  uniformly  much  higher.  The  general  average 
percentage  of  pauperism  due  directly  or  indirectly  to  drink 
is  37  per  cent,  with  5.23  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of 
cases  unaccounted  for. 

In  1895  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 
undertook  an  investigation  of  the  connection  between 
pauperism  and  drink  in  the  state  pauper  institutions,  the 
results  of  which  are  corroborated  on  a  larger  scale  by  the 
Committee  of  Fifty,  as  shown  below  :  — 


PAUPERISM   AND   INTEMPERANCE. 


Mass.  Bureait 

OF  Labok,  1895. 

3280  Cases. 

KoREN  "  Eco- 
nomic Aspects," 
1895. 
8420  Cases. 

Pauperism  caused  by  : 

(1)  Personal  use  of  liquor 

(2)  Intemperate  habits  of  parents  .     . 

(3)  Intemperate  habits  of  guardians    . 

(4)  Intemperate  habits  of  others     .     . 

39.44 
4.82 
1.4.5 
3.06 

32.84 

3.60 

.27 

5.31 

The  only  comparable  foreign  statistics  which  are  available 
are  those  of  workhouse  pauperism  in  England.^  Charles 
Booth  found  12.6  per  cent  of  634  inmates  at  Stepney,  Lon- 
don, to  have  been  pauperized  by  drink  and  21.9  per  cent  of 
736  inmates  of  St.  Paucras.  These  j)ercentages  seem  very 
small  when  compared  with  American  experience,  but  Mr. 
Booth  himself  said  that  it  was  probable  that  research  into 

1  Mr.  Koren  discusses  German  statistics  of  pauperism  on  pp.  124-125, 
and  shows  that  comparison  is  impossible. 


72  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

the  history  of  these  people  might  disclose  a  greater  connec- 
tion between  pauperism  and  the  public  house.^ 

Table  XV.  shows  the  effect  of  intemperance  in  producing 
destitution  and  neglect  of  children.  The  data  of  5136  cases 
were  obtained  from  three  groups  of  institutions :  (1)  societies 
for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  children  or  humane  societies 
which  deal  with  children  of  the  most  depraved ;  (2)  state 
organizations  of  the  National  Children's  Home  Society,  under 
whose  treatment  come  a  large  number  of  illegitimate  infants ; 
(3)  two  state  public  schools  which  are,  in  fact,  asylums  for 
orphaned  and  dependent  children. 

Although  the  number  of  colored  children  represented  in 
Table  XV.  is  too  small  to  be  significant  of  itself,  yet  the 
smaller  percentage  of  destitution  due  to  drink  is  in  harmony 
with  statistics  previously  quoted.  Comparing  native-born 
with  foreign-born  children,  there  is  a  difference  of  6  per 
cent  in  favor  of  the  former ;  comparing  children  of  native 
parentage  with  those  of  foreign  parentage,  the  difference 
rises  to  13  per  cent.  As  in  the  case  of  women,  the  mere 
arithmetical  fact  that  nearly  one-half  the  destitution  of 
5000  children  was  due  to  the  drinking  habits  of  those  hav- 
ing charge  of  them  does  not  adequately  represent  the  con- 
comitant misery.  Irrespective  of  transmitted  tendencies  to 
degeneration,  the  children  of  drunken  parents  fare  badly  be- 
cause of  neglect  and  privation.  Whether  the  mother  her- 
self drinks,  or  is  merely  linked  to  a  drunken  husband,  her 
life  during  the  period  of  gestation  is  almost  inevitably  such 
as  endangers  the  well-being  of  the  child.  The  fact  that 
when  a  large  part  of  the  family  income  goes  for  liquor,  other 
branches  of  expenditure  must  be  curtailed,  is  so  obvious 
that  it  only  needs  to  be  mentioned.  Moreover,  the  irrational 
and  often  brutal  treatment  received  by  children  of  the 
intemperate  makes  right  development  almost  impossible  for 
them.  One  fact  brought  out  by  the  statistics  of  the  Reg- 
1  Booth,  "Pauperism,"  etc.,  p.  11. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OJ?*  DEGENERATION.      73 


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74  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

istrar  General  of  England  may  be  given  as  showing  in  an 
extreme  instance  the  perils  attending  child  life  when  parents 
drink :  a  much  larger  number  of  children  are  suffocated  in 
bed  on  the  nights  of  Saturday  and  holidays  than  on  other 
nights  of  the  week.  This  prompt  extinguishing  of  infant 
life  is  hardly  a  greater  misfortune  than  for  the  child  to 
grow  up  with  irrational  guidance  and  the  evil  example  of 
drunken  parents. 

In  addition  to  being  ill  nourished  and  often  cruelly  treated, 
such  children  grow  up  under  the  influence  of  a  degenerating 
personality.     Wilson  says  :  — 

"Typically  the  action  induced  in  the  brain  [by  alcohol]  is  of  the 
nature  of  a  progi-essive  paralysis,  beginning  with  the  highest  level  and 
its  most  delicate  functions,  and  spreading  gradually  downward  through 
the  lower.  Moral  qualities  and  the  higher  processes  of  intelligence 
are,  therefore,  first  invaded."  i 

Children  growing  up  under  the  influence  of  parents  sub- 
ject to  such  degeneration  are  not  likely  to  develop  the  higher 
qualities  at  all,  since  the  development  of  such  qualities  comes 
very  largely  from  imitation.  The  utter  lack  of  foresight, 
and  the  impossibility  of  postponing  present  gratification 
for  the  sake  of  future  gain,  is  one  of  the  pronounced  char- 
acteristics of  the  drunkard,  and  is  also  common  among  the 
distinctly  pauper  class. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  pointed  out  that  the  latest  social 
development,  especially  in  the  United  States,  tends  to 
separate  the  community  into  two  classes,  —  the  total  ab- 
stainers and  the  hard  drinkers.  The  tenser  nervous  organi- 
zation of  the  modern  man  is  in  a  state  of  less  stable 
equilibrium  than  that  of  his  progenitors,  who  lived  largely 
out  of  doors,  used  their  muscles  in  heavy  work,  ate  large 
quantities  of  coarse  food,  and  drank  large  quantities  of 
mildly  alcoholic  liquor.      In  America,  climatic   conditions 

1  "Drunkenness,"  pp.  15-16. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES  OF  DEGENERATION.      15 

intensify  the  tendency  indicated.  A  dry  atmosphere  and 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold  produce  nervous  diseases  vmknown 
to  European  medical  practice,  or,  at  least,  known  here  in 
advance  of  their  appearance  in  Europe.^  It  is  a  matter  of 
common  observation  that  the  children  of  European  immi- 
grants usually  drink  either  less  or  more  than  their  parents, 
and  those  who  drink  resort  to  the  stronger  liquors. 

The  results  of  the  inquiries  into  the  interrelations  of 
poverty,  pauperism,  and  intemperance,  made  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  Committee  of  Fifty  and  presented  in  a  most 
condensed  form  in  the  preceding  pages,  are  seen  to  occupy 
a  middle  ground  between  the  extreme  views  entertained  by 
the  older  writers  and  those  of  Booth  and  Warner.  It  is 
not  difficult,  indeed,  to  account  for  the  wide  variations  of 
opinion.  The  older  opinion  was  held  at  a  time  when  there 
was  little  knowledge  of  the  social  and  economic  causes  of 
poverty — when  it  was  accepted  as  inevitable  rather  than 
inquired  into.  Drunkenness  was  of  all  causes  the  most 
obvious  and  the  most  unpleasant,  and  being  intermingled 
with  the  others,  was  therefore  liable  to  be  used  as  an  ex- 
planation of  all  the  rest. 

On  the  other  hand,  Charles  Booth  and  Amos  G.  Warner, 
representing  two  different  types  of  scientific  observers,  were 
profoundly  impressed  with  the  deeper  causes  of  misery  and 
with  the  necessity  of  getting  at  the  facts  behind  such 
obvious  causes  as  drunkenness.  They  were  inclined  con- 
sequently to  give  intemperance  no  more  than  its  numerical 
value  in  apportioning  the  causes  of  poverty.  Mr.  Booth, 
having  set  down  as  statistically  true  his  percentages  of  12.6 
and  21.9  for  drink  as  a  cause  of  workhouse  pauperism,  ap- 
parently felt  that  it  did  not  represent  the  whole  truth  and 
thereupon  wrote  that  striking  paragraph   which  has  been 

1  Patten,  "Economic  Basis  of  Prohibition,"  Annnls,  vol.  ii.,  p.  59  ff. ; 
Beard,  "Physical  Future  of  American  People,"  Atlantic  Monthly,  vol. 
xliii.,  p.  718. 


76 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


quoted  ever  since  as  the  true  expression  of  the   effect  of 
drink  upon  the  poor  :  — 

"  Of  driuk  in  all  its  combinations,  adding  to  every  trouble,  under- 
mining every  effort  after  good,  destroying  the  home,  and  cursing  the 
young  lives  of  the  children,  the  stories  tell  enough.  It  does  not  stand 
as  apparent  chief  cause  in  as  many  cases  as  sickness  and  old  age  ;  but 
if  it  were  not  for  drink,  sickness  and  old  age  could  be  better  met."  i 

The  general  average  of  15.98  per  cent,  in  Table  VI.,  in- 
dicating quantitatively  the  proportion  of  intemperance 
among  applicants  for  relief,  was  taken  from  Charity  Organi- 
zation Society  records,  made  with  the  purpose  of  showing 
all  the  causes  and  for  the  use  of  charity  workers,  and  the 
indirect  effect  of  drink  was  not  included.  Of  the  five 
Charity  Organization  Societies  which  furnished  Professor 
Warner  with  data  on  the  causes  of  poverty  in  1890-1892 
four  also  supplied  Mr.  Koren  with  data  on  the  relation  of 
drink  to  poverty  in  1896-1898.  The  difference  in  the  fig- 
ures of  these  societies  taken  in  the  one  case  incidentally  to  an- 
other object,  and  in  the  other  with  the  utmost  care  —  some- 
times by  a  specially  trained  person  —  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  ascertaining  the  proportion  of  intemperance  among  ap- 
plicants for  relief,  is  considerable,  amounting  in  three 
cities  to  a  total  excess  of  9  per  cent,  in  Koren's  tables. 
This  fact  alone  would  account  for  the  difference  of  3  per 
cent  between  Warner's  general  average  of  15.2  and  Koren's 
of  18  per  cent  for  drink  as  a  direct  cause. 

DRINK  AS  A   CAUSE   OF  POVERTY. 
Charity  Organization  Society  Records. 


Balti- 
more. 

Buffalo. 

Cincin- 
nati. 

New 

York. 

New 
Haven. 

Drink  —  Warner's  Schedules 
Drink  —  Koren's  Schedules 

9.69 
11.3 

8.1 
21.3 

11.1 
13.7 

13.66 
19.59 

15.4 
14.4 

+  1.8 

+  13.2 

+  2.6 

+  5.9 

-1.0 

1  Booth,  "  Pauperism,"  pp.  140-141. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      77 

Whatever  the  reasons  for  these  differences  of  statistics, 
the  experience  of  many  American  charity  workers  seems  to 
corroborate  Mr.  Koren's  results,  especially  as  to  the  indirect 
influence  of  drinking  habits  in  producing  need.  The  fre- 
quent use  of  such  phrases  as  "a  great  curse  and  the  cause 
of  great  misery,"  "  intemperance  is  a  conspicuous  factor," 
etc.,  in  the  reports  of  charity  workers  whose  phraseology  is 
otherwise  restrained,  indicates  a  strong  conviction.  Pro- 
fessor Devine  sums  up  forcibly  the  attitude  of  those  who 
are  in  daily  contact  with  distress,  when  he  says :  — 

"  It  is  a  conservative  estimate  that  one-fourth  of  all  cases  of  desti- 
tution with  which  private  agencies  have  to  deal  are  fairly  attributable 
to  intemperance.  This  estimate  includes  only  the  cases  in  which 
there  is  an  obvious  connection  between  the  use  of  alcohol  and  the 
dependent  condition  in  which  the  family  is  found.  The  question  as 
to  how  much  should  be  added  to  cover  the  cases  in  which  there  is 
only  a  partial  or  indirect  responsibility  is  a  matter  for  conjecture,  and 
estimates  on  this  point  are  likely  to  differ  according  to  the  standpoint 
of  the  one  who  makes  them.  It  is  a  matter  for  conjecture  also,  and 
estimates  differ  here  again,  as  to  what  other  evil  consequences,  aside 
from  poverty  and  destitution,  are  due  to  drink.  That  there  is  an 
endless  train  of  evils  aside  from  the  burden  of  pauperism  and  de- 
pendence which  it  entails,  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Insanity,  suicide,  and 
death  in  other  forms  result  from  the  use  of  alcohol,  in  many  instances 
in  which  no  question  of  relief  arises.  Cruelty,  neglect,  and  unhappi- 
ness  result  directly  from  the  use  of  alcohol  in  families  which  are  by 
no  means  near  the  verge  of  dependence.  Crimes  are  committed  under 
its  stimulus,  and  demoralizing  associations  are  formed  or  strengthened 
under  conditions  in  which  the  use  of  alcohol  is  an  important  element, 
and  it  makes  easier  the  path  to  vice  and  the  indulgence  of  every 
debasing  appetite.  Certain  diseases,  such  as  tuberculosis  and  pneu- 
monia, are  far  more  likely  to  attack  those  who  are  subject  to  alcohol- 
ism, and  it  greatly  impedes  the  recovery  of  those  who  are  attacked. 
These  consequences  are  not  exhausted  in  the  lives  of  the  intemperate 
themselves,  but  are  bequeathed  to  posterity  in  various  forms  of 
degeneracy,  spiritual  and  physical."  ^ 

In  this  paragraph  Professor  Devine  was  writing,  not  of 

1  "Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  144-145. 


78  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

confirmed  inebriety,  but  of  the  effect  of  intemperance  upon 
those  who,  being  on  the  poverty  line,  came  intermittently 
to  the  Charity  Organization  Societies  for  relief.  The 
effects  of  drink  are  most  plainly  traced  in  the  classes  not 
yet  pauperized.  It  is  among  artisans  and  those  capable  of 
earning  good  wages  that  the  most  money  is  spent  for  beer 
and  whiskey,  and  the  most  vitality  burnt  out  by  it.  Rown- 
tree  and  Sherwell  estimate  that  among  the  English  working- 
classes,  six  shillings  per  week  represents  the  average 
expenditure  for  drink,  of  families  whose  income  ranges 
between  twenty-one  and  thirty  shillings.^  The  American 
negroes,  though  relatively  temperate  laborers,  are  kept  poor, 
or  at  least  poorer  than  they  would  otherwise  be,  by  occasional 
extravagance  in  this  direction.  A  colored  man  of  very 
large  experience  estimates  that  poor  "renters"  in  the  South, 
corresponding  to  laborers  in  the  North,  spend  an  average  of 
fifty  cents  a  week  (buying  ten  drinks)  or  about  $25  a 
year  for  whiskey ;  that  is,  "  One  bale  of  five-cent  cotton, 
raised  by  very  hard  labor  on  three  acres  of  land,  goes  to 
whiskey.  Ten  bales  of  cotton  being  an  average  yield  from 
a  one-mule  farm  of  thirty  acres  in  Lowndes  County,  the 
renter  tithes  his  income  to  the  liquor  seller."  ^ 

In  enumerating  the  effects  of  intemperance  it  must  not 
be  overlooked  that  it  is  at  once  an  effect  and  a  cause,  a 
symptom  and  a  source  of  degeneration.  In  a  majority  of 
cases  where  the  drinking  habit  has  become  uncontrollable, 
it  is  a  symptom  of  deeper  disorganization.  Dr.  Brantwaite, 
His  Majesty's  Inspector  under  the  Inebriates  Act,  in  charge 
of  all  inebriates  under  legal  detention  in  England,  states 
his  conviction  in  the  following  paragraph :  — 

"The  more  I  see  of  habitual  drunkards,  the  more  I  am  convinced 
that  the  real  condition  we  have  to  study,  tlie  trouble  we  have  to  fight 
and   the    source  of  all  the  mischief,  is  inherent    defect    in  mental 

1  "The  Temperance  Problem,"  p.  20. 

2Koren,  "Economic  Aspects,"  etc.,  p.  163;  see  also  More,  "  Wage-- 
earners  Budgets,"  p.  140. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      79 

mechanism,  generally  congenital,  sometimes  acquired.  Alcohol,  far 
from  being  the  chief  cause  of  habitual  inebriety,  is  merely  the  medium 
which  brings  into  prominence  certain  defects  which  might  otherwise 
have  remained  hidden,  but  for  its  exposing  or  developing  influence. 
In  the  abstinence  of  alcohol  the  same  persons,  instead  of  meriting  the 
term  inebriate,  would  have  proved  unreliable  in  other  ways.  They 
would  have  been  called  ne'er-do-weels,  profligates,  persons  of  lax 
morality,  excitability,  or  abnormally  passionate  individuals,  persons  of 
melancholic  tendencies  or  eccentric.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  drunkard 
of  all  the  8000  or  more  I  have  known  has  voluntarily  and  of  intention 
made  himself  so  ;  on  the  contrary,  I  am  convinced  that  all  who 
possess  a  sufficiently  developed  mental  equilibrium  to  appreciate  the 
seriousness  of  their  condition  have  urgently  and  honestly  desired  to 
live  a  sober  life,  and  have  fought  to  this  end  and  failed  in  a  struggle 
against  weakness,  the  strength  of  which  a  normal  man  is  quite  in- 
capable of  realizing."  ^ 

In  corroboration  of  this  opinion,  Dr.  Brantwaite  presents 
the  accompanying  table  of  2277  inebriates  committed  to 
special  care,  previous  to  1907 :  — 


TABLE   XVI. 

Inebriates  under  Legal  Detention  :   Admitted  to 
Reformatories. 

Classification  according  to  Mental  State.* 


Number. 

Per  Cent. 

1.  Insane  —  certified  and  sent  to  asylums  .     . 

2.  Very  Defective  —  imbeciles,    degenerates, 

epileptics 

3.  Defective  —  as  above,    but    less    marked, 

eccentric,  silly,   dull,  senile,   or  subject 
to  periodical  paroxysms  of  ungovernable 
temper 

4.  Of  Average  Mental  Capacity  —  on  admis- 

sion or  after  six  months'  detention    .     . 

61 
315 

1060 

581 

16.1 
62.6 

46.5 
37.4 

Total  Admissions 

2277 

100.0 

*  Il,k!.,  \>.  250. 
1  Journal  of  Inebriety,  Winter,  1907,  p.  254. 


80  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

He  concludes  that  in  at  least  62  per  cent  of  these  cases 
mental  defect  or  disease  was  the  cause  of  their  inebri- 
ety ;  that  a  majority  of  insane  inebriates  became  alcoholic 
as  a  result  of  their  tendency  to  insanity,  not  insane  as  a 
result  of  alcoholism  ;  that  in  the  case  of  defective  inebriates, 
there  is  commonly  present  the  same  physical  abnormalities 
as  are  found  among  the  feeble-minded,  only  in  a  less  degree, 
and  that  their  drunkenness  is  the  direct  result  of  mental 
defect  for  which  they  are  not  virtually  —  though  legally  — 
responsible.  In  these  cases.  Dr.  Brantwaite  enumerates 
three  characteristic  mental  symptoms:  an  impaired  moral 
sense,  imperfect  control  over  impulse,  and  defective  power 
of  judgment  —  the  first  being  the  one  most  likely  to  have 
existed  previous  to  drunken  habits.     He  continues  :  — 

"  The  early  history  of  all  cases  where  this  symptom  is  marked  has 
justified  a  probability  of  congenital  origin.  Odd  and  peculiar  from 
birth,  these  persons  have  always  seemed  incapable  of  acting  like  other 
people.  There  is  often  a  history  during  childhood  of  fits,  chorea,  or 
other  neuroses  ;  as  children  they  have  proved  uneducable,  and  as  adults 
unemployable  from  incapacity  to  learn  the  details  of  a  wage-earning  oc- 
cupation. They  appear  to  be  unable  to  tell  the  truth  and  cannot  be 
made  to  see  any  reason  why  they  should  do  so.  They  are  filthy  in 
habits,  and  require  supervision,  even  force  to  insure  a  moderate  amount 
of  cleanliness  when  under  detention.  They  do  not  care  in  the  least 
for  the  opinion  of  others  in  matters  relating  to  conduct,  nor  can  they 
be  induced  to  see  any  reason  why  dictation  from  others  should  be 
obeyed."  i 

The  number  of  habitual  drunkards  is,  however,  compara- 
tively small,  and  destitution  occasioned  by  them,  though 
serious  enough,  is  not  the  real  menace  to  society.  On  the 
other  hand  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  by  far  the  larger 
proportion  of  those  who  drink  do  not  fall  into  distress.  It 
is  only  when  it  accompanies  idleness,  incompetence,  sickness, 
neglect  of  family  obligations,  that  the  effects  of  casual  and 

1  Similar  descriptions  are  given  by  Palmer,  "Inebriety,"  pp.  24,  27; 
Wilson,  "Drunkenness,"  p.  53. 


SYMPTOMATIC   CAUSES  OF  DEGENERATION.      81 

social  drinking  become  obviously  destructive.  When  we 
know  why  the  average  man  drinks,  we  shall  be  on  the  road 
to  thorough  temperance  reform.  Does  the  laboring  man  spend 
his  margin  in  drink  because  of  exhaustion  in  his  trade,  or 
because  he  has  nowhere  to  go  except  to  the  saloon,  or  because 
it  is  the  only  cheap  and  pleasurable  mental  stimulus  open  to 
him  ?  Mr.  Booth  mentions  that  the  bicycle  has  been  a  pre- 
ventive of  drinking  among  clerks  in  London.  To  sum  up  : 
intemperance,  as  a  cause  of  dependence,  is  symptomatic ;  on 
the  one  hand  of  defect  and  deterioration  of  personal  character, 
on  the  other  of  those  wasting,  monstrous,  and  oppressive 
social  conditions  which  produce  abnormal  appetites  and 
antisocial  conduct. 

In  the  tables  of  the  causes  of  poverty,  the  column  next  to 
the  one  giving  the  percentages  for  intemperance  includes 
under  "other  moral  defects"  the  very  small  number  of 
cases  in  which  poverty  has  been  traced  directly  to  "  immo- 
rality." This  term  is  here  used  to  stand  for  sexual  licen- 
tiousness, or  other  perversion  of  the  sexual  instinct.  But 
the  small  number  of  cases  of  poverty  directly  attributable 
to  this  factor  in  no  wise  reflects  its  importance.  Careful 
observers  believe  it  to  be  a  more  constant  and  fundamental 
cause  of  degeneration  than  intemperance.  It  certainly  pro- 
duces degeneration  of  a  more  or  less  pronounced  type  in  a 
much  larger  number  of  persons.  It  persists  almost  to  the 
end  in  the  most  degenerate  stock,  while  at  the  same  time  it 
is  operative  among  the  healthier  classes.  A  reference  to 
the  accounts  quoted  later  on,  describing  the  habits  of  the 
Rooneys,  the  Jukes,  and  the  Ishmaels,  will  show  that  in 
these  distinctly  pauper  families  sexual  vice  plays  a  part  in 
degradation  more  important  than  intemperance. 

The  medical  profession  has  given  us  even  less  of  scientific 
exposition  of  the  degeneration  which  results  from  perversion 
of  the  sexual  instincts  than  of  that  which  comes  from  the 
abuse  of  stimulants  and  narcotics.     The  changes  which  must 


82  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

undoubtedly  take  place  in  the  structure  of  the  nervous  and 
circulatory  systems,  as  a  consequence  of  self-abuse  or  sexual 
excess,  have  not  been  sufficiently  studied.  Venereal  disease 
has  been  treated  at  length,  but  the  effect  upon  the  physical 
and  mental  man  of  vice  as  vice  has  been  neglected.  The 
great  bulk  of  literature  existing  upon  the  subject  is  simply 
the  output  of  advertising  quacks. 

No  boy  among  boys,  or  man  among  men,  can  have  failed 
to  have  evidence  thrust  upon  him  showing  that  a  very  great 
amount  of  vitality  is  burnt  out  by  the  fires  of  lust.  Among 
the  rougher  classes  of  day  laborers  upon  railroads,  in 
quarries,  and  even  upon  the  farms,  the  whole  undercurrent 
of  thought,  so  far  as  conversation  gives  evidence  of  it,  is 
thoroughly  base  and  degrading.  In  many  cases  inefficiency 
certainly  results  from  the  constant  preoccupation  of  the 
mind  with  sensual  imaginings.  At  the  present  day,  a  given 
amount  of  such  preoccupation  will  diminish  a  man's  indus- 
trial efficiency  more  than  ever  before,  because  of  the  increas- 
ing importance  of  the  mental  element  in  all  work.  If  a  man 
has  brute  strength,  he  can  shovel  dirt  quite  passably,  even 
though  his  thoughts  are  elsewhere.  But  most  of  the  occupa- 
tions of  the  present  require  alertness  and  sustained  attention. 
Railroad  day  laborers,  and  others  of  a  similar  class,  are  very 
commonly  kept  from  rising  in  the  industrial  scale  by  their 
sensuality,  and  it  is  this  and  the  resulting  degeneration  that 
finally  converts  many  of  them  into  lazy  vagabonds.  The 
inherent  uncleanness  of  their  minds  prevents  them  from 
rising  above  the  rank  of  day  laborers,  and  finally  incapaci- 
tates them  even  for  that  position.  It  may  also  be  suggested 
that  the  modern  man  has  a  stronger  imagination  than  the 
man  of  a  few  hundred  years  ago,  and  that  sensuality  destroys 
him  the  more  rapidly.  A  highly  developed  nervous  system 
makes  him  a  more  powerful  man,  if  it  is  properly  used,  but 
it  enables  him  to  destroy  himself  more  promptly  if  that  be 
his  tendency. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      83 

In  addition  to  the  direct  effect  of  the  perversion  of  the 
sexual  instincts  must  be  reckoned  the  ravages  of  venereal 
disease.  Among  the  degraded  class  it  is  accounted  a  mark 
of  manlinesss  to  have  had  syphilis  until  exposure  to  it 
is  no  longer  dangerous.  From  25  to  30  per  cent  of 
the  Juke  family  were  tainted  with  it.  It  is  this  disease 
cooperating  with  drunkenness  that  finally  brings  the  pros- 
titute and  her  consort  through  the  hospital  to  the  alms- 
house. There  are  probably  few  almshouses  in  the  country 
where  some  of  the  inmates  are  not  paupers  in  part  because 
of  its  effects  upon  them ;  it  is  not  easy  to  visit  a  foundling 
hospital  of  any  size,  or  a  children's  hospital,  where  this 
disease  is  not  especially  excluded,  without  finding  children 
in  bitter  and  hopeless  misery  because  of  congenital  syphilis. 
The  doctors  administer  remedies  which  give  temporary  re- 
lief, but  the  doctors  themselves  often  express  a  belief  that 
the  best  thing  that  can  be  hoped  for  such  children  is  an  early 
death. 

The  following  statements  made  by  high  scientific  authority 
and  published  for  the  information  of  teachers  by  the  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Sanitary  and  Moral  Prophylaxis  sufficiently 
describe  the  extent  and  the  effects  of  venereal  disease  in 
this  country :  — 

"  Syphilis  is  estimated  by  different  authorities  as  affecting  from 
5  to  18  per  cent  of  the  whole  population.  It  is  usually  very  slowly  de- 
veloped, and  the  final  stages  may  appear  as  late  as  fifty  or  sixty  years 
after  infection.  It  is  a  curable  disease  if  properly  treated  for  the  nec- 
essary length  of  time.  That  the  later  lesions  are  so  common  is  because 
adequate  treatment  is  often  not  received,  which  is  of  the  greatest 
consequence,  since  syphilis  is  the  one  disease  inherited  in  full  virulence. 
'  Gonorrhoea  is  one  of  the  most  widespread  and  devious  of  transmis- 
sible diseases  and  more  than  any  other  a  cause  of  chronic  ill-health  and 
permanent  disability '  (Osier) .  This  disease,  too,  is  curable  if  treat- 
ment is  begun  early  and  persisted  in  long  enough  and  with  suflBcient 
skill.  Beyond  a  certain  stage  in  both  sexes  there  is  no  cure,  although 
in  some  cases  the  possibility  of  transmission  ceases." 


84  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

"The  larger  proportion  of  pelvic  troubles  among  women  and  of 
surgery  of  the  pelvic  organs  is  due  to  gonorrhoea  ;  probably  oue-half 
of  childless  marriages  and  of  '  one-child  families '  are  due  to  this  cause. 
It  is  certain  that  a  large  proportion  of  abortions  and  miscarriages  are 
due  to  syphilis  ;  also  a  considerable  percentage  of  early  mortality,  in- 
ferior mentality,  degeneracy,  and  insanity.  We  have  more  than  10,000 
totally  blind  from  gonorrhoea ;  this  does  not  include  those  partially 
blind  from  gonorrhoea  and  syphilis.  "^ 

The  social  evil  and  the  diseases  resulting  from  it  have 
been  recognized  as  corrupting  and  degenerative  forces  in 
society  for  many  centuries,  but  in  modern  times  there  has 
grown  up  what  has  been  called  "  a  conspiracy  of  silence  " 
on  the  part  of  the  press,  the  clergy,  public  educators,  and 
even  of  physicians  concerning  them.  In  spite  of  the  fact 
that  these  diseases  are  as  virulent  and  more  widespread  than 
smallpox,  or  leprosy,  and  that  their  ultimate  victims  are 
innocent  women  and  children,  no  measures  are  taken  to  pre- 
vent their  inception  or  their  dissemination. 

In  the  fall  of  1900,  the  city  of  New  York  was  startled  by 
discoveries  of  the  extent  and  flagrancy  of  offences  against 
morality  and  decency  in  certain  districts.  At  a  citizens' 
meeting  a  Committee  of  Fifteen  was  appointed  to  institute 
an  inquiry,  publish  the  facts,  promote  legislation,  and  suggest 
measures  for  lessening  the  allurements  and  incentives  to 
vice  and  crime.  Their  report  took  the  form  of  an  extensive 
study  of  the  history  of  the  regulation  of  vice  by  Professor 
Alvin  S.  Johnson,  concluding  with  an  outline  of  a  policy  for 
the  control  of  the  social  evil  in  New  York.^  At  about  the 
same  time  the  New  York  Tenement  House  Commissioners 
published  in  their  report  an  account  of  prostitution  as  a 
tenement-house  evil.^  The  coincidence  of  these  revelations, 
with  an  unusual  awakening  of  interest  in  venereal  diseases 

1  Educational  Pamphlet  No.  2,  "  Society  of  Sanitary  and  Moral  Prophy- 
laxis," p.  7.     Similar  facts  in  Morrow,  "  Social  Diseases." 

2  "The  Social  Evil,"  preface,  pp.  v-vii,  1902. 

3  De  Forest  and  Veiller,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  15-25,  1903. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      85 

among  the  medical  profession  both  in  Europe  and  America, 
resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  American  Society  of  Sanitary 
and  Moral  Prophylaxis  in  1905.^  For  the  first  time,  in  this 
country,  this  subject  is  being  studied  and  discussed  by  lay- 
men as  well  as  physicians  of  the  highest  standing  without 
hesitation  and  without  concealment. 

Professor  Johnson  shows  that  vice,  so  far  from  being  a 
constant  and  invariable  element  in  social  life,  has  varied 
widely  at  different  periods  in  response  to  social,  economic, 
and  religious  changes,  and  has  a  direct  relation  to  war, 
commercial  disturbances,  congestion  of  population,  and  em- 
ployment. He  infers  that  since  the  causes  of  vice  do  not 
operate  with  uniform  force,  it  is  probable  that  even  if  vice 
cannot  be  eradicated,  it  cati  nevertheless  be  controlled  and 
therefore  limited.  Modern  prostitution  is  shaped  by  the 
industrial  and  social  conditions  of  city  life  —  the  masculine 
factor  made  up  of  the  army  of  unmarried  workers,  the 
feminine  factor,  of  girls  and  women  who  have  made  "  a 
quasi-voluntary  choice  of  prostitution  as  a  means  of  liveli- 
hood." The  conditions  which  develop  masculine  vice  are 
complex  and  intimately  connected  with  the  cityward  move- 
ment of  population.  The  country  boy,  already  informed 
by  the  vulgar  talk  of  older  men,  goes  to  the  city ;  his  in- 
come for  some  years  will  be  too  small  to  marry  upon ;  his 
interests  are  usually  self-centred ;  the  cheap  amusements 
open  to  him  are  generally  more  or  less  suggestive  and  he  is 
influenced  continually  by  the  prevalent  theory  that  the  sex 
instinct  must  be  satisfied  for  the  sake  of  health.  At  the 
same  time  the  principal  check  upon  conduct  —  the  opinion 
of  one's  neighbors — is  lacking,  while  the  allurements  of 
vice  are  constantly  present. 

As  for  the  feminine  element,  there  is  a  small,  probably 
very  small,  number  who  are  sexual  perverts ;  but  Professor 
Johnson  declares  that  the  victim  of  force  or  fraud,  or  of 
1  "Transactions,"  etc.,  vol.  i.,  1906. 


86  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

adverse  social  and  economic  conditions,  soon  reaches  a 
point  where  she  cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  congenital 
pervert.  By  far  the  larger  number  of  prostitutes  were 
originally  not  different  from  normal  women;  one  type  is 
thus  described :  — 

"There  is  a  large  class  of  women  who  may  be  said  to  have  been 
trained  for  prostitution  from  earliest  childhood.  Foundlings  and 
orphans  and  the  offspring  of  the  miserably  poor,  they  grow  up  in 
wretched  tenements,  contaminated  by  constant  familiarity  with  vice 
in  its  lowest  forms.  Without  training,  mental  or  moral,  they  remain 
ignorant  and  disagreeable,  slovenly  and  uncouth,  good  for  nothing  in 
the  social  and  economic  organism.  When  half  matured,  they  fall  the 
willing  victims  of  their  male  associates  and  inevitably  drift  into 
prostitution."  ^ 

Another  section  consists  of  those  whose  wages  are  often 
not  enough  for  a  living,  much  less  to  afford  any  pleasure. 
These  are  the  "  occasional  prostitutes  "  which  are  said  to 
outnumber  the  permanent  class  in  Berlin.  A  third  class, 
more  common  in  American  cities,  consists  of  those  attracted 
by  the  appearance  of  luxury  and  ease  of  the  life  of  a  mis- 
tress and  disinclined  to  the  low-paid  and  monotonous  labor 
which  alone  they  can  perform.  These  two  latter  sections 
without  resources  or  industrial  competence  are  inordinately 
desirous  of  marriage,  and  are,  therefore,  the  more  easily 
induced  to  become  mistresses,  or  seduced  under  promise  of 
marriage.  It  is  most  significant  that  not  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  prostitutes  in  New  York  City  have  been 
domestic  servants  —  a  class  of  workers  who  have  no  nor- 
mal home  life  or  pleasures  of  their  own  and  who  must  go 
upon  the  street  to  be  courted.^ 

In  the  discussion  of  remedial  measures  it  is  customary 
to  enumerate  only  three  ways  of  dealing  with  the  social 
evil  —  absolute  freedom,  entire  prohibition,  and  reglemen- 

1  "  The  Social  Evil,"  p.  10. 

2  A  careful  analysis  of  the  different  classes  of  prostitutes  in  London  is 
found  in  Booth,  "Life  and  Labor,"  final  volume,  pp.  121-131. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      87 

tatiou.  The  first  is  not  to  be  tolerated  in  modern  society ; 
the  second  has  never  been  successfully  enforced,  even  sup- 
posing that  people  could  be  made  virtuous  by  law ;  and 
thus  there  is  apparently  left  only  the  system  of  regulation 
which  generally  prevails  in  Europe.  There  is,  in  fact,  a 
fourth  measure  termed  the  "  moral  control "  of  vice  which 
partakes  of  the  essence  of  both  prohibition  and  regulation. 
The  object  of  reglementation  is  to  check  disease,  and  its 
essential  features  are  the  periodical  examination  of  the 
prostitute  and  treatment  in  lock  hospitals  for  venereal 
diseases.^  Aside  from  the  legal  difficulties  which  would 
arise  in  this  country  if  the  prostitute  would  not  volunta- 
rily submit  to  examination  and  treatment,  there  is  the  far 
greater  one  of  suppressing  clandestine  prostitution.  In 
those  cities  of  Europe  where  reglementation  is  most  effec- 
tively organized,  the  clandestine  and  the  unregistered  women 
far  outnumber  those  under  the  control  of  the  Morals  police. 
Moreover,  the  public  prostitute  is  not  the  only  or  even  the 
chief  source  of  contagion.  It  is  generally  conceded  that 
the  clandestine  prostitute  is  the  more  dangerous  from  a 
sanitary  standpoint,  and  Dr.  Prince  A.  Morrow  says  of  the 
masculine  factor :  — 

"The  health  officer  of  a  port  might  as  well  attempt  to  prevent  the 
importation  of  infectious  disease  from  a  plague  infected  vessel  by  quar- 
antining the  infected  women  while  permitting  the  infected  men  to  go 
free."  2 

Nor  does  European  experience  show  that  reglementation 
has  been  to  any  considerable  extent  effective  in  its  primary 
aim  of  checking  disease.  Professor  Johnson,  quoting  the 
most  trustworthy  authorities,  finally  concludes  that  they 
claim  for  it  "  merely  a  modicum  of  good,  or  look  upon  it  as 
a  stock  upon  which  really  useful  control  may  be  grafted."^ 

1  For  description  of  reglementation  in  Paris,  Berlin,  and  other  European 
cities,  see  "  The  Social  Evil,"  Chap.  III.  and  Chap.  IV. 

2  "  Social  Diseases,"  p.  334.  3  "  The  Social  Evil,"  p.  134. 


88  AMEBIC  AN   CHARITIES. 

Without  pursuing  further  the  results  of  foreign  experi- 
ments, it  is  enough  to  say  that  reglementation  is  wholly 
impracticable  for  the  reason  that  an  American  community 
would  be  hostile  to  it.  The  Anglo-Saxon  attitude  is  illus- 
trated in  the  English  Contagious  Diseases  Acts  in  1866-1877 
and  the  experiment  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  in  1870-1874, 
which  were  both  overthrown  by  the  extreme  opposition  of 
public  opinion.  Even  if  practicable  and  desirable,  regie- 
mentation  involves  the  arrest  of  any  woman  on  suspicion, 
a  degree  of  arbitrary  police  power,  an  interference  with 
personal  liberty,  and  a  fundamental  injustice,  which  would 
not  be  tolerated  in  this  country. 

Under  the  title  of  "  Moral  Control,"  the  Committee  of 
Fifteen,  and  the  leaders  in  the  movement  for  Prophylaxis, 
have  agreed  upon  certain  preventive  and  ameliorative 
measures,  based  upon  the  elements  of  agreement  in  all 
parties,  and  making  moral  rather  than  sanitary  considera- 
tions of  paramount  importance.  The  Committee  of  Fifteen 
recommends  :  (1)  Strenuous  efforts  to  prevent  in  the  tene- 
ment houses  the  overcrowding  which  they  believe  to  be  the 
prolific  source  of  sexual  immorality ;  (2)  the  provision  of 
purer  and  more  elevating  forms  of  amusement  to  supplant 
the  attractions  which  stimulate  sensuality ;  (3)  the  im- 
provement of  the  material  conditions  of  the  wage-earning 
class,  especially  of  young  wage-earning  women  ;  and  finally 
they  regard  a  better  system  of  moral  education  as  an  im- 
perative necessity.  They  point  out  that  in  the  whole  of 
Greater  New  York  there  were  in  1902  only  twenty-six 
hospital  beds  available  for  women  suffering  from  venereal 
diseases  and  recommend  an  increase  of  such  facilities  on 
grounds  of  public  health.  They  recommend  further  that 
minors  who  are  notoriously  debauched  be  confined  in  asy- 
lums and  reformatories;  and  above  all,  they  recommend 
a  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  law,  Avhich  at  present  re- 
gards prostitution  as  a  crime.  On  this  point  the  Commit-. 
tee  declares :  — 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      89 

"If  we  are  ever  to  escape  from  the  present  impossible  conditions,  it 
seems  imperative  to  draw  the  distinction  sharply  between  sin  and 
crime.  ...  A  sin  is  not  less  odious  because  it  is  not  treated  as  a 
crime.  Sins  may  even  be  incomparably  more  heinous  than  offences 
which  the  law  visits  with  punishment.  Nevertheless,  some  of  the  most 
grievous  sins  are  not  subjected  to  legal  penalties,  simply  because  it  is 
recognized  that  such  penalties  cannot  be  enforced,  and  a  law  on  the 
statute  book  that  cannot  be  enforced  is  a  whip  in  the  hands  of  the 
blackmailer.  Corruption  in  the  police  force  can  never  be  extirpated 
until  this  prolific  source  of  it  is  stopped."! 

The  acceptance  of  these  recommendations  as  a  programme 
of  action  involves  driving  prostitution  Tvholly  from  tene- 
ment houses  and  the  homes  of  the  poor ;  repressing  all 
obtrusive  manifestations  of  prostitution  as  a  public  nui- 
sance ;  and  the  creation  of  a  special  and  select  body  of 
Morals  Police,  analogous  to  sanitary  police,  to  exercise  the 
duties  of  repression  and  surveillance.  It  does  not  contem- 
plate the  suppression  of  scattered  houses  of  ill-fame  because 
the  Committee  believe  this  to  be  at  present  impracticable. 

Professor  Johnson  suggests  the  prohibition  of  women  in 
saloons  and  in  dance-halls,  wherever  immorality  becomes 
conspicuous ;  that  citizens  or  parents  should  be  able  to 
bring  complaint  against  tenants  suspected  of  harboring 
vice ;  the  extension  of  public  education,  especially  to  fit 
young  girls  for  more  efficient  lines  of  industry;  and,  for 
the  protection  of  the  family,  a  requirement  of  a  health 
certificate  for  both  parties,  before  a  marriage  license  may  be 
issued.  Dr.  Prince  A.  Morrow  not  only  concurs  in  all  these 
proposals,  but  goes  farther.  He  would  penalize  the  trans- 
mission of  venereal  disease  on  the  same  grounds  that 
fornication  and  spitting  in  public  places  are  forbidden. 
He  points  out  that  venereal  diseases,  unlike  smallpox,  for 
instance,  are  transmitted  by  a  voluntary  act;  and  he  con- 
cludes that  whether  communicated  through  culpable  igno- 
rance, or  criminal  imprudence,  their  transmission  should  be 
1  "The  Social  Evil,"  p.  177. 


90  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

punishable.  Dr.  Morrow  thinks  the  entering  wedge  of 
social  control  would  be  the  compulsory  notification  of 
these  diseases  by  physicians  as  of  other  contagious  dis- 
eases (without  the  name  of  the  patient)  and  enforced  isola- 
tion. But  he  chiefly  emphasizes,  as  do  all  other  recent 
American  writers,  the  necessity  for  the  dissemination  of 
knowledge  and  education  in  self-control,  among  the  young. 
Since  the  majority  of  prostitutes  fall  before  the  age  of 
eighteen,  and  a  majority  of  infected  men  are  infected  before 
twenty-one,  the  responsibility  of  parents,  and  of  society,  is 
infinitely  greater  than  that  of  these  ignorant  and  immature 
individuals.  The  far-off  remedy  lies  in  the  social  ostracism 
of  the  libertine,  and  the  decline  of  the  double  standard  for 
men  and  women. 

After  drink-crave  and  sensuality,  we  might  enumerate  a 
large  number  of  characteristics  or  habits  which  result  from 
and  result  in  a  tendency  to  degenerate.  On  the  side  of  ap- 
petites would  be  the  craving  for  opium,  and  for  various 
kinds  of  unwholesome  food.  On  the  side  of  defects,  would 
be  all  those  sufficiently  pronounced  to  have  been  enu- 
merated in  the  table  of  causes,  and  in  addition  the  mental 
incapacity  to  judge  wisely  in  the  ordinary  business  affairs 
of  life.  This  last  is  one  of  the  most  vexatious  causes  of 
poverty  with  which  the  ordinary  friendly  visitor  for  a  char- 
ity organization  society  has  to  deal.  It  sometimes  mani- 
fests itself  in  the  form  of  extravagance,  but  oftener  in  pure 
blundering,  which  does  not  even  bring  the  satisfaction  of 
temporary  indulgence.  "  Against  stupidity  the  gods  them- 
selves are  powerless."  A  proverbial  saying,  which  has  a 
very  direct  bearing  on  the  subject,  asserts  that  "Poor  folks 
have  poor  ways."  This  cause  is  widely  operative;  yet 
writers  upon  social  pathology  seldom  give  it  distinct  treat- 
ment, apparently  thinking  that  it  is  an  individual  and  not 
a  social  phenomenon.  The  social  results  of  it,  however,  are 
not  to  be  ignored.     The  development  of  modern  industries 


SYMPTOMATIC   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      91 

puts  upon  the  judgment  of  individuals  an  ever  increasing 
burden.  Tiie  breaking  down  of  the  barriers  of  custom,  the 
rapid  changes  in  the  methods  of  industry,  the  increasing 
amount  of  purchasing  to  be  done  to  obtain  family  supplies, 
the  increased  need  of  wise  bargaining  in  the  selling  of  ser- 
vices, the  extension  of  the  borrowing  habit  both  for  good 
and  evil :  these  and  a  hundred  other  features  of  modern 
industry  tend  to  add  to  sobriety  and  industry  as  prerequi- 
sites of  industrial  success,  a  further  requisite  —  that  of  good 
judgment,  and  a  judgment  that  acts  not  only  surely  but 
promptly.  From  the  proprietary  farmer  all  the  way  down 
to  the  disease-burdened  man  who  decides  whether  or  not  he 
will  go  to  a  hospital,  mistaken  judgments  are  constantly 
pushing  people  toward  and  across  the  pauper  line.  One  of 
the  commonest  mistakes  is  an  utter  failure  to  appreciate  in 
advance  the  burden  of  a  debt  at  compound  interest.  The 
chattel  mortgage  shark,  the  pawnbroker,  and  the  "  instal- 
ment plan"  houses  thrive  because  of  this  failure.^ 

Allied  to  craving  on  the  one  hand  and  to  lack  of  judg- 
ment on  the  other  are  gambling  and  speculation,  of  which 
Mr.  Booth  says  that  they  are  irrepressible  and  only  to  be 
stopped  by  changing  human  nature.  In  the  San  Francisco 
almshouse  were  found  several  working  women  whose  sav- 
ings had  all  gone  in  speculation  in  mining  stocks,  and 
among  the  men  a  considerably  larger  number.  Betting  on 
the  races,  buying  lottery  tickets,  and  gambling  may  not  ap- 
pear in  the  tabulated  causes  of  poverty,  but  like  drink 
they  consume  a  large  portion  of  the  margin  which  would 
serve  to  lift  the  family  out  of  poverty. 

Shiftlessness  and  inefficiency,  the  last  of  the  personal 
characteristics  to  which  special  reference  need  be  made,  is 
due  to  a  variety  of  defects :  it  may  be  lack  of  judgment, 
stupidity,  lack  of  ambition ;  in  not  a  few  cases  to  lack  of 

1  Brown,  "Development  of  Thrift,"  Chap.  I. ;  Ward,  "  Psychic  Factors 
of  Civilization,"  p.  169  ff. 


92  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

proper  training.  Often  it  seems  to  be  the  manifestation  of 
undervitalization  simply,  which  in  turn  may  go  back  to  bad 
heredity,  sickness,  malnutrition,  or  bad  habits.  Whatever 
its  origin,  it  manifests  itself  in  general  incompetence,  in 
lack  of  the  New  England  faculty  of  getting  along,  in  want 
of  persistence,  in  a  chronic  "  ill-luck."  A  Boston  district 
agent  well  describes  these  general  incompetents  :  — 

"  They  are  not  intelligent  enough  or  strong  enough  or  skilful  enough 
or  energetic  enough  to  do  work  that  employers  can  afford  to  pay  a 
living  wage  for  or  to  manage  their  own  income  in  such  a  fashion  as  to 
make  both  ends  meet ;  the  men  and  women  who  are  unable  to  do  the 
simplest  thing  efficiently,  who  are  unable  to  spend  a  single  dollar 
wisely  ;  the  men  and  women  who  go  '  slatting '  through  life,  who  are 
always  thinking  they  can  do  what  they  cannot  do,  or  who  do  not  half 
try  to  do  the  things  they  are  set  to  do  —  these  are  society's  burden."  ^ 

As  we  have  alread}'"  pointed  out  in  discussing  unemploy- 
ment, the  tendency  of  intermittent  and  irregular  work  is  to 
produce  a  progressive  deterioration.  The  weightiest  charge 
which  many  vagabonds  might  bring  against  the  modern  in- 
dustrial organization  is  that  they  have  become  what  they 
are  through  the  effect  of  involuntary  idleness  ;  for  idleness, 
voluntary  or  involuntary,  tends  to  produce  a  degeneration, 
physical,  mental,  and  moral,  which  perpetuates  the  condi- 
tion that  begets  it.  Besides  intermittent  labor,  none  of  the 
causes  of  inefficiency,  not  even  sickness,  says  Professor  De- 
vine,  is  so  important  as  defective  education  —  the  entire 
lack  of  training  for  some  and  the  wrong  kind  of  training 
for  others.^ 

Thus  far  we  have  not  needed  to  inquire  whether  the  evil 
propensities  and  bad  habits  which  result  in  degeneration 
have  come  through  free  choice  on  the  part  of  the  individual, 
or  have  been  the  result  of  foreordination  in  the  theological 
or  the  scientific  sense  of  the  term.    We  have  been  concerned 

1  Report  of  Associated  Charities,  Boston,  litOi,  p.  24. 

2  "  Charities  and  the  Commons,"  vol.  xv.,  p.  150  (1905). 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      93 

simply  with  their  interactions  and  their  effects.  Ignoring 
all  discussion  as  to  the  freedom  of  the  will  in  any  absolute 
sense  of  the  term,  it  is  our  present  business  to  trace  causes 
just  as  far  as  they  are  found  to  be  traceable.  As  an  insur- 
ance company  is  justified  in  refusing  to  take  a  risk  upon  the 
life  of  a  man  who  comes  of  a  sickly  family,  or  is  engaged 
in  some  peculiarly  dangerous  occupation,  so  the  student  of 
social  science  is  justified  in  concluding  that  certain  in- 
fluences of  heredity  and  environment  have  an  effect 
upon  the  character  of  the  individual  that  is  often  mani- 
fest, and  that  is  frequently  to  some  extent  measurable. 

From  the  time  of  birth,  or  even  from  the  time  of  concep- 
tion, the  characteristics  of  race  and  of  sex  are  fixed;  and 
these  are  not  without  influence  on  the  industrial  history  of 
the  individual,  as  our  tables  show.  Beyond  this,  every  man 
has  his  own  individuality  —  the  combination  of  physical 
and  mental  peculiarities  which  make  him  a  different  indi- 
vidual from  every  other.  Since,  by  the  law  of  sex,  he  has 
twice  as  many  ancestors  as  his  father  or  mother  had,  he 
could  inherit  anything  which  either  of  them  had  received. 
His  share  from  both  will  form  a  sort  of  mosaic,  composed 
of  their  species  and  race  characters  added  together  and 
divided  by  two,  plus  an  approximate  half  of  the  personal 
peculiarities  of  each. 

Dr.  David  Starr  Jordan,  in  a  chapter  entitled  "  The 
Heredity  of  Richard  Roe,"  has  concisely  and  admirably 
stated  what  is  known  of  heredity,  and  we  shall  quote  from 
him  certain  paragraphs  which  have  a  direct  bearing  on  the 
question  of  the  relative  influence  of  heredity  and  environ- 
ment in  the  production  of  social  degeneration.^ 

"So  in  the  chromatin  of  his  two  parent  cells  Richard  Roe  finds  his 
potentialities,  his  capacities,  and  his  limitations.  But  latent  in  these 
are  other  capacities  and  other  limitations  handed  down  from  earlier 

1  The  Arena,  June,  1897;  also  reprinted  in  "Footnotes  to  Evolution," 
Chap.  V. 


94  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

generations.  Each  grandfather  and  grandmother  has  some  claim  on 
Richard  lloe,  and,  behind  these,  dead  hands  from  older  graves  are  still 
beckoning  in  his  direction.  .  .  .  The  bluer  the  blood,  that  is,  the 
more  closely  alike  these  ancestors  are,  the  gi'eater  will  be  the  common 
factor,  ...  in  perfect  thorough-breeding  the  individual  should  have 
no  peculiarities  at  all.  .  .  .  Weakness  or  badness  is  more  often 
thoroughbred  than  strength  or  virtue.  The  bluest  of  blood  may  run 
in  the  veins  of  the  pauper  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  aristocrat.  .  .  . 
Too  narrow  a  line  of  descent  tends  to  intensify  weakness.  Vigor  and 
originality  come  from  the  mingling  of  variant  elements.  ..." 

"Again,  at  the  time  of  Richard  Roe's  birth,  the  formula  of  his 
father  was  slowly  changed  under  the  reaction  toward  activity  or 
toward  idleness,  resulting  from  his  efforts  and  his  environment. 
Changes  constantly  arise  from  the  experiences  of  life,  the  stress  of 
environment  .  .  .  the  growth  through  voluntary  effort,  the  depres- 
sion from  involuntary  work  or  idleness,  the  degeneration  caused  by 
stimulants  or  vice  .  .  .  and  each  may  have  left  its  mark  on  him. 
Through  these  influences  every  man  is  changed  from  what  he  was  or 
what  he  might  have  been  to  what  he  is." 

"  It  seems  to  be  true  that  any  great  physical  weakness  on  the  part 
of  Richard  Roe's  parents  would  tend  to  lower  his  constitutional  vigor, 
whatever  the  origin  of  such  weakness  might  be.  If  so,  such  weakness 
might  appear  as  a  large  deficiency  in  his  power  of  using  his  equip- 
ment. His  vital  momentum  would  be  small.  It  may  be,  too,  that 
any  high  degree  of  training,  as  in  music  or  mathematics,  might  de- 
termine in  the  offspring  the  line  of  least  resistance  for  the  movement 
of  his  faculties.  ..." 

"There  are  many  phenomena  of  transmitted  qualities  that  cannot 
be  charged  to  heredity.  Just  as  a  sound  mind  demands  a  sound  body, 
so  does  a  sound  child  demand  a  sound  mother.  Bad  nutrition  before 
as  well  as  after  birth  may  neutralize  the  most  valuable  inheritance 
within  the  germ-cell.  Even  the  father  may  transmit  weakness  in 
development  as  a  handicap  to  hereditary  strength.  The  many  physi- 
cal vicissitudes  between  conception  and  birth  may  determine  the  rate 
of  early  growth  or  the  impetus  of  early  development.  In  a  sense  the 
first  impulse  of  life  comes  from  such  sources  outside  the  germ-cell  and 
therefore  outside  of  heredity.  .  .  .  The  plan  of  Richard  Roe's  life  as 
prepared  at  birth  admits  of  many  deviations.  .  .  .  Experiences  of 
life  will  tend  to  reduce  or  destroy  some  of  these  elements.     Some  of 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES  OF  DEGENERATION.      95 

them  will  be  systematically  fostered  or  checked  by  those  who  deter- 
mine Eichard  Roe's  education.  .  .  .  The  Ego,  or  self,  in  the  life  of 
Richard  Roe,  is  the  sum  of  his  inheritance  bound  together  by  the  re- 
sultant of  the  consequences  of  the  thoughts  and  deeds  which  have 
been  performed  by  him  and  perhaps  by  others  also.  .  .  .  The  greater 
heredity  is  the  heredity  made  by  ourselves.  .  .  .  With  all  this,  we 
may  be  sure  that  the  stream  of  Richard  Roe's  life  will  not  rise  much 
above  its  fountain.  He  will  have  no  powers  far  beyond  those  poten- 
tial in  his  ancestors.  But  who  can  tell  what  powers  are  latent  in 
these  ?  It  takes  peculiar  conditions  to  bring  any  group  of  qualities 
into  general  notice.  The  men  who  are  famous  in  spite  of  an  unknown 
ancestry  are  not  necessarily  different  from  this  ancestry.  .  .  .  Real 
greatness  is  as  often  the  expression  of  the  wisdom  of  the  mother  as  of 
anything  the  father  may  have  been  or  done." 

For  the  purpose  of  studying  hereditary  tendencies  toward 
degeneration  the  points  to  be  especially  noted  are,  then,  what 
Richard  Roe  receives  from  his  parents  of  racial  and  personal 
qualities,  plus  the  degree  of  vital  momentum  determined  by 
the  nutrition  and  conditions  of  his  mother  during  the  period 
of  gestation  ;  and  after  birth,  the  environment  which  his 
parents  and  society  provide  for  him.  The  tendency  of  chil- 
dren to  suffer  from  certain  varieties  of  bodily  and  mental 
weakness  the  same  as  or  analogous  to  those  of  their  family 
stock  has  long  been  recognized.  Beyond  this,  occult  charac- 
teristics, tending  to  inefficiency  and  therefore  to  pauperism, 
are  believed  to  be  transmitted,  although  their  exact  nature 
either  in  parent  or  child  has  not  been  described. 

The  transmission  of  hereditary  tendencies  to  degeneration 
can  most  easily  be  traced  where  some  palpable  defect  is  both 
the  result  and  evidence  of  degeneration.  In  his  book  on 
"  The  Marriages  of  the  Deaf  in  America,"  Edward  Allen 
Fay  has  collected  with  thoroughness  and  caution  the  avail- 
able facts  which  show  the  transmissible  character  of  deaf- 
ness ;  and  has  corroborated  the  essential  conclusions  of 
Professor  Alexander  Graham  Bell.  Table  XVII.  gives  the 
facts  collected  by  him. 


96 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


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SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      97 

Mr.  Fay  concludes  that  the  married  deaf  have  married 
deaf  rather  than  hearing  partners,  chiefly  from  the  sym- 
pathy engendered  by  their  condition  and  only  secondarily 
because  of  opportunities  for  acquaintance  afforded  by  the 
schools  for  the  deaf.  On  the  whole,  the  marriages  of  these 
persons  are  slightly  less  productive  than  ordinary  marriages, 
but  their  offspring  are  much  more  liable  to  be  deaf  than  those 
of  ordinary  marriages  in  the  proportion  of  8.6  to  .01  per  cent. 

The  table  shows  that  congenitally  deaf  persons,  whether 
they  are  married  to  one  another,  to  adventitiously  deaf,  or 
to  hearing  partners,  are  far  more  liable  to  have  deaf  off- 
spring than  adventitiously  deaf  persons,  the  percentage  of 
deaf  children  of  the  one  ranging  from  6  to  25  per  cent,  in 
the  other  from  2.3  to  4.3  per  cent.  Deaf  persons  having 
deaf  relatives,  however  they  are  married,  and  hearing  per- 
sons having  deaf  relatives  and  married  to  deaf  partners,  are 
very  liable  to  have  deaf  offspring.  The  marriages  of  the 
deaf  most  liable  to  result  in  deaf  offspring  are  those  in  which 
the  partners  are  related  by  consanguinity.  The  extremes 
of  liability  are  found  in  the  two  classes  last  named  in  the 
table,  i.e.  both  partners  adventitiously  deaf  without  deaf 
relatives  having  .3  per  cent  deaf  children,  while  the  con- 
sanguineous partners  had  30  per  cent  deaf  children.^ 

Dr.  Strahan  regards  congenital  deafness  as  a  sign  of 
general  decay,  which,  if  deepened  by  intermarriage,  must 
extinguish  the  family ;  ^  and  he  names  as  transmissible  by 
inheritance  —  and  as  at  once  results,  evidences,  and  causes 
of  degeneration  —  a  list  of  diseases  such  as  insanity,  imbe- 
cility, epilepsy,  drunkenness,  deaf-mutism,  blindness,  cancer, 
scrofula,  tuberculosis,  gout,  rheumatism,  and  instinctive 
criminality.  While  his  facts  do  not  support  all  of  his  con- 
tentions, they  show  the  interdependence  of  many  of  these 

1  "  Digest  of  Fay's  Conclusions,"  Chap.  VII. 

2  "  Marriage  and  Disease,"  p.  171;  see  also  Boies,  "Prisoners  and 
Paupers,"  pp.  281-282,  where  a  number  of  Strahan's  diagrams  of  families 
are  reproduced. 


98 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


diseases.  The  evidence  of  other  medical  men  as  to  the 
transmissibility  of  certain  neurotic  tendencies  is  unanimous. 
Dr.  Samuel  G.  Howe,  in  1848,  collected  information  showing 
not  only  the  hereditary  tendency  to  idiocy  in  certain  fami- 
lies, but  also  the  interchangeability  of  this  and  other  forms 
of  degeneration. 

TABLE  XVIII. 

Idiocy  in  Massachusetts. 

Condensed  from  Howe's  Report,  1848. 


Idiotic  Persons. 

Idiocy 
Congen- 
ital. 

Idiocy 
Super- 
vened. 

Total. 

Of  decidedly  Scrofulous  Families      .     .     . 

Parents  Habitual  Drunkards 

One  or  Both  Parents  Idiotic  or  Insane  .     . 

Parents  advised  to  marry  because   of   Ill- 
health   

Parents  Near  Relatives  (having  One  to  Five 
Idiotic  Children) 

Some  Relatives  Idiotic  or  Insane  .... 

Who  have  One  to  Five  Near  Relatives  Idiotic 

Who  have  Five  to  Ten  Near  Relatives  Idiotic 

Who  have  Ten  to  Nineteen  Near  Relatives 
Idiotic 

355 
99 

12 

17 

177 

71 

6 

4 

64 
15 

34 
13 

419 

114 
50 

12 

17 

211 

84 

6 

4 

Parents  having  Two  to  Four  Idiotic  Children 

Parents  having  Five  to  Nine  Idiotic  Children 

Parents  having  Eleven  Idiotic  Children 

Families  in  which  All  the  Children  of  One 

Marriage   were    Idiotic   or   Very   Puny, 

while  Those  of  Another  Marriage,  by  the 

Surviving  Healthy  Parent  with  a  Healthy 

Person,  were  Sound  in  Body  and  Mind  . 

61 
3 

5 
1 

66 
3 
1 

15 

Idiotic  Persons  who  are  Parents   .... 

21 

Table  XIX.,  condensed  from  Dr.  Barr's  recent  work,  shows 
these  same  facts  more  conclusively. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      99 


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100  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

This  table  shows  that  from  40  to  65  per  cent  of  all 
feeble-mindedness  is  due  to  hereditary  neuroses,  from  8 
to  14  per  cent  to  abnormal  conditions  of  the  mother  during 
gestation  —  a  total  of  55  to  71  per  cent  due  to  prenatal 
inJBueuces.  Dr.  Barr  explains  that  the  divergence  in  the 
English  and  American  cases  between  the  percentage  at- 
tributed to  hereditary  causes  and  abnormal  condition  of  the 
mother  is  more  apparent  than  real.  On  this  point  he 
says  :  — 

"Poverty,  hard  work,  not  infrequent  intemperance,  and  many 
anxieties  added  to  the  sufferings  of  the  period  (of  gestation)  might  so 
press  upon  the  mother  as  for  tlie  time  to  reduce  lier  to  a  state  of  quasi- 
imbecility.  If  to  this  slie  sliould  have  brought  to  her  office  of  mother- 
hood exhausted  vitality,  such  a  condition  would  provide  fruitful  soil 
for  such  a  development  of  neuroses  latent  in  the  mother,  as  to  consti- 
tute in  her  offspring  almost  a  direct  inheritance  of  defect." 

Dr.  Barr  regards  tuberculosis  as  a  preeminent  cause  of 
defect,  in  that  it  lessens  all  the  physical  forces  and  tends  to 
cooperate  with  any  latent  neuroses,  thus  conducing  to  a 
condition  of  "  poverty  of  being  "  more  to  be  dreaded  than 
the  inheritance  of  actual  disease.  He  finally  sums  up  his 
view  as  follows  :  ^ 

"  The  transmission  of  imbecility  is  at  once  the  most  insidious  and 
the  most  aggressive  of  the  degenerative  forces,  attacking  alike  the 
physical,  mental,  and  moral  nature,  enfeebling  the  judgment  and  the 
will,  while  exaggerating  the  sexual  impulses  and  the  perpetuation  of 
an  evil  growth  ;  a  growth  too  often  parasitic,  ready  to  unite  with  any 
neuroses  it  may  encounter,  and  from  its  very  sluggishness  and  inertia 
refusing  to  be  shaken  off,  lying  latent  it  may  be,  but  sure  to  reappear, 
as  Haller  recounts,  through  a  century  to  the  fourth  and  fifth  genera- 
tion." 

Dr.  Ireland  thinks  that  idiocy  is  of  all  mental  derange- 
ments the  most  frequently  propagated  by  descent,  and  agrees 
with  Dr.  Barr  that  the  tubercular  diathesis  is  the  influence 
most  likely  to  conduce  to  it.     He  points  out  that  the  heredi- 
1  "  Mental  Defectives,"  pp.  95,  102. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.    101 

tary  predisjjosition  alone  is,  in  most  cases,  insufficient  to  be 
the  cause  of  idiocy  without  the  assistance  of  other  influences, 
and  that  these  influences  act  with  unusual  force  upon  individ- 
uals of  a  neurotic  tendency,  and  they  probably  determine 
whether  the  resultant  disease  is  to  be  insanity,  epilepsy,  or 
deafness,  or  some  other  nervous  disorder.^  Again,  we  learn  that 
the  causes  of  congenital  deafness  and  of  epilepsy  aremuchthe 
same  as  those  of  idiocy.  If  we  turn  to  the  authorities  on  epi- 
lepsy, we  find  them  reiterating  heredity  as  the  chief  cause  in 
from  one-fourth  to  one-half  of  all  cases ;  and  as  we  have  al- 
ready seen.  Dr.  Brantwaite  adds  inebriety  to  the  list  of  these 
interdependent  neuroses.^ 

Mr.  F.  H.  Wines,  in  discussing  a  class  of  unbalanced  peo- 
ple on  the  border  line  of  degeneracy,  declares  that  there  is 
a  clear  connection  between  crime,  pauperism,  insanity,  and 
vice  of  all  sorts,  and  that  all  persons  of  these  classes  have 
one  characteristic  in  common :  incapacity  to  govern  them- 
selves—  to  hold  their  appetites,  instincts,  and  passions  in 
firm  check  under  the  guidance  of  sound  judgment.  These 
unbalanced  people  are  unfit  for  social  life,  they  cannot  make 
the  necessary  adjustments,  and  often  make  themselves  in- 
tolerable to  others.  He  finally  concludes  :  "  Self-indulgence, 
egotistic  self-gratification,  is  the  root  of  bitterness  from  which 
springs  every  social  ill.  It  is  the  mother  of  degeneracy."  ^ 
Yet  the  facts  just  cited  would  seem  to  show  that  it  is  quite 
as  much  the  offspring  of  degeneracy. 

When  we  turn  from  the  palpably  defective  to  measure 
as  accurately  as  may  be  the  influence  of  heredity  in  deter- 
mining the  success  or  failure  of  apparently  normal  individ- 
uals, the  difficulties  are  much  increased.  Homer  Folks 
has  remarked  that  the  only  experiments  which  would 
allow  us  to  test  fully  the  influence  of  heredity  in  de- 
termining   the    character    of   individuals    must    be    made 

1  "  Mental  Affections  of  Children,"  p.  20.  2  p.  80  ante. 

8  "  Unbalanced  People,"  Charities  Review,  vol.  v.,  1895,  pp.  57  ff. 


102  AMERICAN  CBARIT1E8. 

in  the  cases  of  infants  whose  parentage  is  known  and 
who  have  been  adopted  into  good  homes. ^  The  child 
who  is  born  in  an  almshouse  and  grows  up  there  is 
almost  always  a  pauper,  and  would  probably  be  so  re- 
gardless of  its  heredity,  though  in  such  cases  the  latter 
agency  usually  reenforces  the  influence  of  environment. 
The  child  that  grows  up  in  an  infant  asylum  or  orphans' 
home  has  at  most  an  imperfect  opportunity  for  right 
development,  and  the  original  possibilities  of  its  nature 
are  but  faintly  reflected  by  its  career.  With  a  child 
boarded  out  in  a  private  family,  or  given  to  foster  par- 
ents while  still  an  infant,  the  conditions  of  life  are  bet- 
ter, and  more  might  be  inferred  if  we  could  compare  its 
characteristics  with  those  of  its  parents.  But  usually 
the  facts  regarding  the  parents  are  matters  of  inference 
rather  than  knowledge,  and  foster  parents  are  inclined  to 
fix  as  deep  a  gulf  of  ignorance  as  possible  between  the 
child  and  its  progenitors. 

Galton  has  cited  the  case  of  D'Alembert,  who  was  a 
foundling,  and  put  out  to  nurse  as  a  pauper  baby  to  the 
wife  of  a  poor  glazier :  — 

"The  child's  indomitable  tendency  to  the  higher  studies  could 
not  be  repressed  by  his  foster-mother's  ridicule  and  dissuasion,  nor 
by  the  taunts  of  his  schoolfellows,  nor  by  the  discouragements  of 
his  schoolmaster,  who  was  incapable  of  appreciating  him,  nor  even  by 
the  reiterated,  deep  disappointment  of  finding  that  his  ideas,  which  he 
knew  to  be  original,  were  not  novel,  but  long  previously  discovered  by 
others.  Of  course  we  should  expect  a  boy  of  his  kind  to  undergo  ten 
or  more  years  of  apparently  hopeless  strife,  but  we  should  equally  ex- 
pect him  to  succeed  at  last ;  and  D'Alembert  did  succeed  in  attaining 
the  first  rank  of  celebrity  by  the  time  he  was  twenty-four."  ^ 

But  Galton  has  not  many  examples  of  this  sort  to  fortify 
his  belief :  — 

1  See  discussion,  Charities  Review,  vol.  ix.,  Nos.  3  and  4. 

2  "  Hereditary  Genius,"  pp.  4;M4. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      103 

"  If  the  eminent  men  of  any  period  had  been  changelings  when 
babies,  a  very  fair  proportion  of  those  who  survived,  and  retained 
their  health  up  to  fifty  years  of  age,  would,  notwithstanding  their 
altered  circumstances,  have  equally  risen  to  eminence."  ^ 

Mr.  Eitchie,  in  commenting  on  this  opinion,  suggests  that 
while  it  might  be  true  that  restless,  energetic  natures, 
like  D'Alembert  or  Lord  Brougham,  would  make  their 
way  up  in  spite  of  all  obstacles,  it  may  be  doubted  if 
such  would  be  the  case  with  a  nature  like  that  of  Charles 
Darwin.  He  suggests  that  under  many  circumstances  the 
struggle  for  existence  may  be  so  severe  that  strength  is 
exhausted,  even  in  the  man  of  ability.^ 

Since  there  are  no  data  concerning  infants  of  known  de- 
scent to  warrant  any  final  conclusions  as  to  the  force  of 
heredity  in  pushing  the  individual  away  from  pauperism  or 
toward  it,  two  other  methods  of  observation,  less  conclusive 
but  more  practicable,  have  been  resorted  to.  The  first  is  to 
study  the  family  relations  of  a  large  number  of  conspicu- 
ously successful  or  unsuccessful  persons,  and  learn  as  far  as 
possible  what  influence  heredity  has  had  in  bringing  about 
success  or  failure.  The  second  method  is  to  study  the 
careers  of  all  the  children  of  a  family  whose  members  are 
in  general  conspicuous  for  success  or  failure,  in  order  to  see 
whether  or  not  the  manifest  tendency  can  be  accounted  for 
by  the  influence  of  environment.  This  second  method  is, 
for  the  most  part,  only  a  way  of  checking  the  results  obtained 
by  the  first.  As  examples  of  the  first  we  may  summarize, 
(a)  the  investigations  of  Gal  ton  regarding  relationships  of 
the  English  judges,  and  of  Woods  into  the  heredity  of  royalty; 
(ft)  Booth's  summary  of  the  "Stories  of  Stepney  Pauperism  "; 
(c)  the  investigation  of  the  almshouse  population  of  New 
York.  As  illustrating  the  results  to  be  got  by  the  second 
method,  some  account  is  given  of  the  study  of  the  Jukes  of 
New  York  and  the  Ishmaels  of  Indiana. 

1 "  Hereditary  Genius,"  p.  38.        2  '<  Darwinism  and  Politics,"  p.  61. 


104  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Mr.  Galton  undertook  a  study  of  the  English  judges 
between  the  accession  of  Charles  II.  and  the  year  1864. 
He  found  that  a  very  large  number  of  these  men  were 
related  one  to  another,  and  an  analysis  of  the  facts  showed 
that  a  very  eminent  man  was  more  likely  to  have  eminent 
relations  than  one  who  had  attained  a  less  degree  of  success. 
Out  of  the  two  hundred  and  eighty-six  judges,  more  than 
one  in  every  nine  had  been  either  father,  son,  or  brother  to 
another  judge,  and  the  other  high  legal  relationships  had 
been  even  more  numerous.  "  There  cannot  remain  a  doubt," 
he  declares,  "  but  that  the  peculiar  type  of  ability  that  is 
necessary  to  a  judge  is  often  transmitted  by  descent." 

Of  the  persistence  of  capacity  in  certain  families  he 
says : — 

"  The  names  of  North  and  Montagu,  among  the  judges,  introduce 
us  to  a  remarkable  breed  of  eminent  men,  set  forth  at  length  in  the 
genealogical  tree  of  the  Montagus,  and  again  that  of  the  Sydneys 
(see  the  chapter  on  "Literary  Men"),  to  whose  natural  history  —  if 
the  expression  be  permitted  —  a  few  pages  may  be  profitably  assigned. 
There  is  hardly  a  name  in  those  pedigrees  which  is  not  more  than 
ordinarily  eminent ;  many  are  illustrious.  They  are  closely  tied 
together  in  their  kinship,  and  they  extend  through  ten  generations. 
The  main  roots  of  this  diffused  ability  lie  in  the  families  of  Sydney 
and  Montagu,  and,  in  a  lesser  degree,  in  that  of  North." 

F.  A.  Woods,  in  a  recent  study  of  "  Mental  and  Moral  He- 
redity in  Royalty,"  while  avoiding  some  of  Galton's  scientific 
errors,  has  corroborated  his  general  conclusions.  Professor 
Woods  has  taken  individuals  merely  by  blood  relationship 
and  included  every  one  about  whom  anything  could  be 
found.  His  estimates  of  their  mental  and  moral  qualities 
are  based  on  the  adjectives  used  in  describing  them  by  his- 
torians and  biographers,  and  are  expressed  in  a  series  of 
grades  from  one  to  ten,  i.e.  low  to  high,  for  intellect  and 
morals  separately.  The  accompanying  table  shows  briefly 
his  most  important  results:  — 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  UEGENERATION.      105 


TABLE   XX. 

Correlation  of  Mental  and  Moral  Qualities 

in  608  Royal  Persons.* 


Grades  foe  Virtues. 

1 

2 

3 
5.43 

4 

5.51 

5 
5.29 

G 
5.66 

7 
5.87 

8 
6.37 

9 
6.66 

10 
7.32 

Average 
Intellectual  Grades 

3.92 

4.34 

The  persons  whose  grade  for  virtue  was  as  low,  for  in- 
stance, as  3,  averaged  5.43  for  intellect,  but  in  proportion  as 
the  grades  for  virtue  rose,  the  grades  for  intellect  averaged 
higher. 

Woods  concludes  not  merely  from  these  figures  but  from 
the  history  of  these  persons  which  he  carefully  investigated 
that :  (1)  there  is  a  very  distinct  correlation  in  royalty  be- 
tween mental  and  moral  qualities  ;  (2)  analyzing  all  grades, 
the  higher  grades  for  virtues  possess  a  higher  average  of 
intellectual  grading,  and  this  rise  is  almost  perfectly  uniform 
for  both  male  and  female  groups  taken  separately  ;  (3)  among 
royalty,  where  large  families  are  always  desired,  maximum 
fertility,  on  the  whole,  runs  hand  in  hand  with  general 
superiority,  when  tested  by  the  number  of  children  who 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  years ;  (4)  the  rich  are  not 
more  vicious  than  the  poor,  and  as  to  morality,  royalty  does 
not  make  a  bad  showing. 

While  thus  corroborating  Galton's  general  conclusions, 
Woods  goes  much  farther  when  he  says  :  — 

"  The  greater  survival  of  the  morally  superior  and  the  correlation 
between  mental  and  moral  qualities  .  .  .  would  always  tend  toward 
raising  their  average,  if  all  be  considered  as  a  unit  and  if  all  branches 
of  descent  be  traced  out  ;  though  great  and  exceptional  geniuses  might 
be  less  frequently  expected.  ...  In  the  inheritance  of  mental  and 
moral  excellence  we  see  ground  for  a  belief  in  the  necessary  progress 
of  mankind." 


lOG  AMElilCAN   CIIAIUTIES. 

In  contrast  to  those  instances  of  conspicuously  successful 
families  the  following  details  of  the  degenerate  Roouey 
family  are  reprinted  from  Charles  Booth's  "Stories  of 
Stepney  Pauperism  "  :  — 

"  Martin  Koonoy,  aged  85,  now  in  Bromley  Workhouse,  married 
Eliza  King,  and  this  family  has  been  prolific  in  paupers. 

"  First  there  is  Mary  Hooney,  the  wife  of  Martin's  brother  James, 
who  was  deserted  by  him  in  1807,  and  has  had  relief  in  various  forms 
since,  including  residence  in  the  sick  asylum  for  several  years.  She 
also  applied  on  behalf  of  her  married  daughter,  Mrs.  Wilson,  and  her 
sou  Michael  appears  on  the  books  ;  but  with  this  branch  we  do  not  go 
at  present  beyond  the  second  generation. 

"  The  old  man  Martin,  who  is  now  blind,  applied  for  admission  in 
1878.  His  wife  was  then  in  hospital,  having  broken  her  leg  when 
intoxicated.  He  had  been  a  dock  laborer,  and  had  received  £21  from 
the  company  on  breaking  a  leg  in  1857.  He  was  admitted  to  Poplar 
Workhouse.  A  month  later  his  wife,  who  is  twenty-four  years  his 
junior,  came  out  of  hospital,  and  was  also  admitted.  The  relieving 
officer  makes  a  note  that  he  does  not  know  a  more  drunken,  disrepu- 
table family  than  this  one.  He  has  seen  the  woman  '  beastly  drunk ' 
at  all  times  of  the  day.  From  this  time  the  old  man  remains  in  the 
house  ;  but  the  woman  goes  out  several  times,  and  when  out,  was 
more  than  once  seen  in  the  streets  in  a  drunken  condition.  She 
works  sometimes  at  the  lead-works,  sleeping  occasionally  with  her 
sons,  at  other  times  in  various  places  —  water-closets,  on  stairs,  etc. 
When  her  son  Patrick  was  sent  to  prison  for  two  months,  she  went 
into  the  lu)use.  In  1888  she  absconded,  but  in  March,  1880,  applied 
for  roadmiasion  ;  she  had  fallen  down  and  cut  her  face  on  the  Satur- 
day night  before. 

"  This  couple  had  three  children,  Patrick,  James,  and  Bridget. 
Patrick,  born  in  18r):>,  by  trade  a  stevedore,  is  now  in  Poplar  Work- 
house. He  was  living  with  his  mother  in  188(>,  and  she  made  appli- 
cation for  medical  attendance  for  him.  He  was  suffering  from 
rheumatism.  He  became  worse,  and  was  sent  to  the  sick  asylum  ; 
was  discharged,  and  again  admitted  a  unuuh  or  two  later.  Next  year 
he  was  sent  to  Bromley  Workhouse.  He  bears  a  bad  character,  and 
was  in  prison  two  months  in  1888,  and  had  one  month  in  1889  for 
attempting  to  steal  some  ropes.  On  coming  out  of  prison  he  again 
applied  for  admission  to  the  workhouse,  and  was  sent  to  Poplar.  He 
had  a  bad  leg.     He  got  Mork  on  the  day  he  w;is  dischai'ged  from  the 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      107 

sick  asylum,  injured  his  log,  and  was  readmitted  to  workhouse.  He 
served  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  in  the  Uoyal  Marines,  ami  was  dis- 
charged in  1885  for  striking  a  petty  officer.  lie  was  for  this  sentenced 
to  six  months'  imprisonment  by  court-martial. 

"  James,  the  second  son,  is  a  laborer,  not  married.  lie  used  to 
live  with  a  woman  named  O'Keill,  but  left  her,  or  she  him,  and  is 
at  present  living  with  another  woman. 

"Bridget,  the  eldest,  born  in  1847,  married  Jt)hn  Murdock,  a  brick- 
layer's laborer,  eight  years  older  than  herself,  and  there  are  four 
chiltlren,  all  hoys.  Murdock  deserted  his  wife  several  times,  and  has 
been  sent  to  prison  for  it.  She  in  turn  left  him  in  1877,  and  has  been 
living  with  another  man  since.  After  this  he  was  in  Bromley  House 
with  the  children.  The  two  eldest  were  emigrated  to  Canada  in  1880. 
The  man's  sister  married  Richard  Bardsley,  whose  mother,  a  widow, 
is  living  at  Bromley,  and  whoso  brother  and  brother's  wife  both  had 
relief  there."  ^ 

Another  degenerate  group  is  described  in  the  study  of  the 
inmates  of  the  almshouses  of  New  York,  made  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  in  the  early 
seventies.  At  that  time  many  insane  and  many  childreii 
and  many  of  the  defective  classes  were  still  in  the  local 
almshouses.  In  the  rural  communities  it  was  found 
possible  to  get  information  as  to  the  relationsliii)s  of  these 
persons  with  tolerable  fulness,  while  in  the  cities  little 
could  be  learned  bearing  upon  the  subject.  Although  the 
classes  under  investigation  are  those  in  which  the  ties  of 
relationship  are  peculiarly  loose  and  untraceable,  yet  it 
was  found  possible  to  collect  very  conclusive  facts  as  to  the 
iuiiuence  of  heredity  in  perpetuating  paui)erism.  Of  the 
12,()1.4  persons  examined,  it  was  ascertained  that  397,  or 
nearly  3.15  per  cent,  were  the  offspring  of  pauper  fathers  ; 
130 1,  or  10.79  per  cent,  of  pauper  mothers.  The  depend- 
ence dated  back  to  the  third  generation  in  55  cases  on  the 
paternal,  and  92  cases  on  the  maternal  side.  1122  had 
(living  or  dead)  pauper  brothers ;  951,  pauper  sisters  ;  113, 
pauper  uncles  ;  and  133,  pauper  aunts. 

1  "  Pauperism,"  pp.  14-15;  see  also  for  similar  stories,  pp.  18-43. 


108  AMEBIC  AN  CnARITIES. 

The  total  number  of  families  was  10,161.  The  total 
number  of  persons  in  these  families,  including  three  gen- 
erations (living  and  dead)  who  were  known  to  have  been 
dependent  upon  public  charity,  was  14,901.  The  total 
number  of  the  insane  in  the  same  families  (living  and 
dead),  4968  ;  the  total  number  of  idiots  in  the  same  families 
(living  and  dead),  844  ;  and  the  total  number  of  inebriates 
in  the  same  families  (living  and  dead),  8863.  The  number 
of  heads  of  families  in  the  poorhouses  at  the  tiiue  of 
inquiry,  consisting  of  both  parents,  was  2746;  these  were 
said  to  have  in  all  7040  living  children.  The  condition 
of  these  children  were  stated  to  be  as  follows  :  in  poor- 
houses,  1010  ;  in  asylums,  149 ;  in  hospitals,  2 ;  in  refuges, 
29  ;  in  prisons  and  penitentiaries,  9  ;  bound  out,  346  ;  self- 
supporting,  4586 ;  condition  unascertained,  909.  Thus 
about  22  per  cent  of  the  children  of  poorhouse  parents 
were  found  to  be  of  the  dependent  or  delinquent  classes. 
Taking  only  those  whose  condition  was  ascertained,  the 
percentage  of  those  who  were  a  charge  upon  the  public 
rises  to  a  little  more  than  25.  It  should  also  be  noted  that 
a  considerable  number  of  those  self-dependent  at  the  time 
would  probably  with  advancing  years  become  public 
charges ;  and  while  some  of  those  in  a  condition  of  depend- 
ency would  perhaps  eventually  become  self-supporting, 
they  would  hardly  become  so  as  a  permanent  thing.  It  is 
doubtful  if  half  these  children  would  get  through  life  with- 
out some  taint  of  dependency. 

Two  investigations  have  been  made  in  this  country  into 
the  histories  of  individuals  descended  from  distinctly  pauper 
families.^ 

The  first,  conducted  by  Mr.  R.  L.  Dugdale,  concerning 
the  family  of  the  Jukes,  doubtless  included  many  of  the 
same  persons  or  their  progenitors  as  those  found  in  the  New 

1  An  investigation  of  a  similar  character  in  Germany  is  referred  to  in 
N.  C.  C,  1897,  p.  236. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      109 

York  almshouses  in  1875.^  The  Juke  family  has  been  traced 
back  to  a  man  whom  Dugdale  calls  Max,  a  descendant  of  the 
early  Dutch  settlers,  born  between  the  years  1720  and  1740. 
He  is  described  as  a  hunter  and  fisher,  a  hard  drinker,  jolly 
and  companionable,  averse  to  steady  toil,  working  hard  by 
spurts  and  idling  by  turns,  becoming  blind  in  his  old  age, 
and  entailing  his  blindness  upon  his  children  and  grandchil- 
dren. Two  of  his  sons  married  two  of  the  Juke  sisters,  of 
whom  there  were  six  in  all.  The  progeny  of  five  of  them 
have  been  traced  with  more  or  less  exactness  through  five 
generations.  The  number  of  descendants  registered  includes 
540  individuals  who  were  related  by  blood  to  the  Jukes,  and 
169  connected  with  the  family  by  marriage  or  cohabitation ; 
in  all  709  persons  of  all  ages,  alive  and  dead.  The  aggre- 
gate of  this  lineage  reaches,  says  Mr.  Dugdale,  probably 
1200  persons,  but  the  dispersions  that  have  occurred  at 
different  times  have  prevented  the  following  up  and  enumer- 
ation of  many  of  the  lateral  branches.  They  grew  up  in  the 
rural  districts  of  New  York,  and  outdoor  life  probably  aided 
the  degenerate  stock  to  resist  the  tendencies  to  extinction. 
The  family,  as  indicated  by  the  statement  of  its  origin,  may 
be  considered  distinctly  American. 

From  the  statistical  summary  of  the  facts  collated  by  Mr. 
Dugdale,  it  appears  that,  whether  we  consider  pauperism,  or 
crime,  or  harlotry,  or  prostitution,  this  family  produced  a 
number  of  dependents  and  delinquents  out  of  all  proportion 
to  the  numbers  of  individuals  it  contributed  to  the  popula- 
tion. For  instance,  taking  only  the  cases  of  ascertained 
dependence  in  the  Juke  family,  it  is  shown  that  pauperism 
was  nearly  seven  times  as  common  in  this  family  as  in  the 
population  of  the  state  at  large.  Under  the  head  of  X,  Mr. 
Dugdale  classes  all  families  not  related  to  the  Jukes  who 

1  Dugdale,  "The  Jukes  "  (1888),  out  of  print;  a  summary  of  this  paper 
will  be  found  in  N.  C.  C,  1877,  pp.  81-95.  The  Jukes  were  the  descendants 
of  Ada  Juke,  better  known  as  Margaret,  the  Mother  of  Criminals. 


110  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

married  into  tlie  family ;  taking  people  of  the  Juke  blood 
simply,  pauperism  was  7.37  times  as  common  among  them 
as  in  the  population  as  a  whole ;  taking  X  blood  only,  that 
is,  those  families  that  married  into  the  Juke  family,  pauper- 
ism was  only  4.89  times  as  common  as  in  the  total  popula- 
tion. Of  the  adult  women  of  Juke  blood  52.40  per  cent  are 
found  to  have  been  harlots,  while  only  41.76  per  cent  of  the 
women  of  the  X  blood  were  found  to  be  such.  Turning  to 
the  matter  of  crime,  there  are  within  the  family  itself  some 
distinctly  criminal  and  some  distinctly  pauper  strains.  In- 
termarriage between  people  of  the  Juke  blood,  that  is,  breed- 
ing within  the  family,  intensified  the  tendency  to  pauperism, 
while  marriage  with  non-related  stocks  usually  resulted  in  a 
larger  proportion  of  criminals  among  the  descendants.  This 
is  probably  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  greater  constitutional 
vigor  that  resulted  from  marriage  with  non-related  groups. 
Since  pauperism  rests  upon  weakness  of  some  sort,  the  ten- 
dency to  degeneration  is  ifitensified  by  in-and-in  breeding. 

Leaving  the  basis  of  ascertained  fact,  Mr.  Dugdale  tried 
to  calculate  the  cost  to  society  of  the  entire  family  of  the 
Jukes,  assuming  that  they  number  about  twelve  hundred 
persons  of  characters  similar  to  the  careers  of  those  he  had 
ascertained.  He  estimated  that  in  seventy-five  years  the 
family  cost  the  community  over  a  million  and  a  quarter  of 
dollars,  without  reckoning  the  cash  paid  for  whiskey,  or 
taking  into  account  the  entailment  of  pauperism,  crime, 
and  disease  of   the  survivors  in  succeeding  generations. 

The  second  investigation  of  a  group  of  pauper  relatives 
by  Oscar  C.  McCulloch,  of  Indianapolis,  was  suggested  by 
Mr.  Dugdale's  study  of  the  Jukes,  aud  modelled  in  some 
sort  after  that  study,  but  it  has  not  the  scientific  accuracy 
or  completeness  of  its  model.  The  following  passage  from 
"  The  Tribe  of  Ishmael "  ^  characterizes  the  family  suffi- 
ciently for  our  purpose  :  — 

1  McCulloch,  N.  C.  C,  1888;  see  also  Wright  ou  "Marriage  Relation- 
ships ia  the  Tribe  of  Ishmael,"  N.  C.  C,  1890,  p.  435. 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  BEG  EN  EH  AT  ION.      Ill 

"  Members  of  this  extensive  group  have  had  a  pauper  record  in 
Indianapolis  since  1840.  They  have  been  in  the  ahnshouse,  the 
House  of  Refuge,  the  Woman's  Reformatory,  the  penitentiaries,  and 
have  received  continuous  aid  from  the  township.  The  Ishmaels  are 
intermarried  with  250  other  families  of  similar  habits  and  tendencies. 
In  the  family  history  are  murders,  a  large  number  of  illegitimacies, 
and  out  of  the  1092  individuals  whose  cases  have  been  investigated, 
121  are  known  to  have  been  prostitutes.  The  members  of  the  family 
are  generally  diseased.  The  children  often  die  young.  They  live  by 
petty  stealing,  begging,  ash-gathering.  In  summer  they  'gypsy,'  or 
travel  in  wagons  east  or  west.  We  hear  of  them  in  Illinois  about 
Decatur,  and  in  Ohio  about  Columbus.  In  the  fall  they  return. 
They  have  been  known  to  live  in  hollow  trees  on  the  river-bottoms, 
or  in  empty  houses.  Strangely  enough  they  are  not  intemperate. 
The  individuals  already  traced  are  over  5000,  interwoven  by  descent 
and  marriage.     They  underrun  society  like  devil-grass." 

Of  this  pauper  family,  Mr.  McCulloch  said  he  had  seen 
three  generations  of  beggars  among  them  ;  each  child  tended 
to  revert  to  the  same  life  when  taken  away,  and  he  knew  of 
only  one  who  had  escaped  and  become  an  honorable  man. 

If  the  results  of  these  five  studies  —  two  of  conspicu- 
ously successful,  and  three  of  conspicuously  degenerate 
groups  —  should  be  accepted  at  their  apparent  face  value, 
the  conclusion  would  be  inevitable  that  heredity  is  the 
determining  factor  in  any  career ;  and  yet  a  critical  ex- 
amination of  them  will  show  a  number  of  sources  of  error. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  loose  and  confusing  use  of  the 
term  "  heredity."  Heredity,  as  commonly  used,  means  that 
which  the  individual  has  at  birth ;  but  this  equipment,  ac- 
cording to  the  scientist,  is  from  two  sources  :  ancestral, 
that  is,  that  which  he  receives  from  the  uniting  germ-cells 
of  his  parents,  and  second,  that  contributed  by  his  mother 
during  the  period  of  gestation.  In  the  table  on  p.  99  it 
appears  that  from  8  to  14  per  cent  of  all  feeble-mindedness 
is  the  result  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  mother,  and  it  is  not 
denied  that  a  large  part  of  this  is  due  to  poverty  and 
uuhappiness  of  her  environment.     Although  a  transmitted 


112  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

quality,  it  may  be  due  to  environment  rather  than 
heredity. 

In  such  studies  the  fact  is  often  ignored  that  the  child 
inherits,  in  most  cases,  an  environment  that  tends  to  per- 
petuate his  innate  qualities.  Mr.  Booth,  in  his  study  of 
Stepney  pauperism,  could  not  separate  "  pauper  heredity 
and  association."  The  children  of  the  Rooneys,  the  Jukes, 
and  the  Ishmaels,  unless  removed  at  birth  from  family 
associations,  had  no  chance  whatever  of  escaping  a  degener- 
ate career.  Contrariwise,  the  royal  babies  had  not  only 
the  best  physical  care,  but  every  opportunity  for  education, 
and  —  most  important  of  all  —  they  were  disciplined  and 
guarded  by  superior  people. 

Again,  confessedly,  in  most  of  these  studies,  no  account 
is  taken  of  the  members  of  the  family  of  whom  nothing  was 
known.  Mr.  Dugdale  ascertained  something  of  the  history 
of  709  individuals,  but  in  estimating  the  cost  of  this  family  to 
the  state  of  New  York  he  "  assumed"  that  500  more,  of  whom 
he  knew  nothing,  were  equally  degenerate.  It  is  an  assump- 
tion equally  tenable  that  the  reason  they  could  not  be  found 
was  because  they  had  escaped  from  their  wretched  environ- 
ment and  had  been  absorbed  in  the  decent  but  incon- 
spicuous average.  In  the  study  of  New  York  almshouse 
inmates,  10,000  families  were  represented,  and  14,000  persons 
were  known  to  have  been  dependent  in  three  generations; 
but  the  sum  total  of  persons  in  these  families  in  the  first 
generation  alone  could  not  be  less  than  50,000  persons.  In 
one  generation,  therefore,  the  unknown  element  is  more  than 
twice  the  number  of  the  known.  But  perhaps  the  most  fun- 
damental error  underlying  the  deductions  commonly  made 
from  such  studies  is  that  heredity  and  environment  are 
independent  forces,  each  impelling  the  individual  in  a  dif- 
ferent direction.  Of  the  contradictory  notions  about  the 
relation  of  society  to  the  individual,  arising  from  this  erro- 
neous conception.  Professor  Charles  H.  Cooley  says  :  — 


SYMPTOMATIC  CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.      113 

"  A  man's  nature  is  like  a  seed,  and  his  circumstances  like  the  soil 
and  climate  in  which  the  seed  germinates  and  grows  ;  the  co-working 
of  the  two  is  indispensable  to  every  vital  process  whatever,  and  they 
are  so  different  in  their  functions  that  they  cannot  without  inaccuracy 
be  said  to  be  in  opposition.  It  would  be  absurd  to  ask  whether  the 
seed  or  the  soil  predominates  in  the  formation  of  the  tree.  .  .  .  Rather 
we  may  say  that  a  child  —  to  improve  a  little  on  the  first  comparison 
—  is  like  a  vine  whose  nature  is  to  grow,  but  to  grow  not  in  any  pre- 
determined direction,  as  east  or  west,  up  or  down,  but  along  whatever 
support  it  finds  within  reach.  We  have  emulation  by  nature,  but  the 
direction  in  which  emulation  will  lead  us  depends  entirely  upon  the 
ideals  suggested  to  us  by  our  social  experience.  The  well-nurtured 
boy  emulates  his  own  father  and  George  Washington,  but  the  child  of 
a  criminal,  for  precisely  similar  reasons,  emulates  his  father  and 
Blinkey  Morgan  or  some  other  illustrious  rascal.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  suppose  any  organic  difference  between  the  two.  .   .  . 

"  The  point  is,  that  a  social  career  is  not  the  sum  and  resultant  of  two 
forces  similar  in  kind  but  more  or  less  opposite  in  direction  ;  it  comes 
by  the  intimate  union  and  cooperation  of  forces  unlike  in  kind  and 
hence  not  comparable  in  direction  or  magnitude.  So  soon  as  a  child 
is  born,  the  nature  he  brings  with  him  begins  to  unite  with  the  world 
into  which  he  comes  to  form  an  indivisible  product ;  that  is  to  say,  a 
character  and  a  career.  The  union  of  nature  and  nurture  is  not  one 
of  addition  or  mixture  but  of  growth,  whereby  the  elements  are  alto- 
gether transformed  into  a  new  organic  whole.  One's  nature  acts 
selectively  upon  the  environment,  assimilating  materials  proper  to  itself ; 
while  at  the  same  time  the  environment  moulds  the  nature,  and  habits 
are  formed  which  make  the  individual  independent,  in  some  degree, 
of  changes  in  either. 

"It  may  seem  that  one  does,  after  all,  select  the  objects  of  his 
imitation  and  emulation,  and  that  in  this  way  the  individual  nature 
determines  its  own  destiny  as  moral  or  criminal.  But  this  is  only 
true  with  many  limitations  and  conditions.  Some  of  us  are  much 
freer  than  others  and  some  periods  of  life  afford  more  freedom  than 
other  periods  ;  but  no  man  at  any  time  has  anything  like  unrestricted 
freedom  in  the  choice  of  the  influences  that  control  his  life.  A  real 
freedom  cannot  exist  until  the  individual  is  born  into  a  world  where 
there  is  opportunity  for  the  development  of  his  highest  faculties  through 
access  to  all  the  necessary  influences.  There  are  many  children  now 
growing  up  who  are  no  more  free  to  choose  a  moral  career  than  an 
American  baby  is  free  to  speak  the  Chinese  language."  ^ 

1  "  Nature  vs.  Nurture,"  etc.,  N.  C.  C,  1896,  pp.  399  ff. 


114  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

It  must  be  concluded  that  the  attempt  to  attribute  the 
social  career  of  an  individual  chiefly  to  heredity  on  the  one 
hand  or  to  circumstances  on  the  other,  and  to  apportion  to 
each  an  approximate  per  cent  of  influence,  is  a  matter  of 
scientific  interest  rather  than  practical  value  at  the  present 
time  to  those  engaged  in  social  reforms.  That  there  are 
children  so  instinctively  degenerate  that  neither  instruction 
nor  discipline  can  restore  them  to  normality,  is  certainly  true ; 
but  their  number  is  relatively  very  small.  It  is  even  more 
certain  that  a  large  part  of  the  degeneration  which  is  dealt 
•with  by  philanthropy  could  have  been  mitigated,  if  not 
wholly  prevented,  by  a  good  environment.  Professor  Woods, 
in  the  endeavor  to  explain  the  overweening  influence  of 
heredity  in  the  case  of  royalty,  suggests  that  it  may  be  that 
environment  is  most  powerful  in  the  lowest  orders  of  nature, 
and  that  heredity  becomes  more  and  more  influential  in  the 
higher  orders.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  this  hypothe- 
sis it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  standard  of  fitness  for 
those  who  are  to  survive  and  the  environment  which  is  to 
intensify  or  nullify  their  heredity  tendencies  are  both  within 
the  control  of  a  civilized  society,  and  consequently,  subject 
to  change  and  improvement. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SOME  CHARACTERISTIC    SOCIAL    CAUSES  OP  DEGEN- 
ERATION. 

In^  order  to  give  any  complete  view  of  the  social  and  in- 
dustrial influences  which  tend  to  push  the  individual  below 
the  poverty  line,  it  would  be  necessary  to  review  nearly  the 
whole  of  political  economy,  descriptive  and  theoretical ;  but 
we  shall  concern  ourselves  at  present  only  with  some  of  the 
more  conspicuous  external  conditions  which  produce  inca- 
pacity and  degeneration  in  the  individual.  We  must  there- 
fore pass  by  without  consideration  all  the  poverty-begetting 
causes  that  reside  in  the  fluctuation  of  the  purchasing  power 
of  money,  although  many  concrete  examples  could  be  given 
of  families  pushed  from  the  propertied  class  even  across  the 
pauper  line  by  this  influence.  Neither  can  we  concern  our- 
selves with  those  changes  in  industry  which  have  displaced 
large  numbers  of  individuals,  although  presumably  benefiting 
the  community  as  a  whole,  and  even  laborers  as  a  class. 
Neither  can  we  take  up  the  undue  power  of  class  over  class, 
although  it  results  in  conditions  which  tend  to  degeneration 
in  the  individual,  and  may  push  him  below  the  line  of  self- 
dependence;  but  our  view  for  the  most  part  must  be  limited 
to  the  direct  influence  of  occupation  and  uncertain  employ- 
ment upon  health,  character,  and  capacity. 

The  economic  saving  which  could  be  made  by  the  conser- 
vation of  human  strength,  the  prolongation  of  life,  and  the 
prevention  of  disease,  has  recently  been  demonstrated  sta- 
tistically by  Frederick  Hoffmann.  He  estimates  that  the 
average  annual  net  gain  to  society  of  each  male  wage-earner 

115 


116 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


employed  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries  is 
three  hundred  dollars;  and  has  collated  the  approximate 
value  of  workmen  of  different  grades  of  efhciency  for  the 
years  from  15  to  65.  Table  XXI.  condensed  from  this  cal- 
culation will  serve  to  illustrate  the  principle. 

TABLE   XXI. 

The  Economic  Value  or  Industrial  Labor  and  Life.* 


Age. 

I.  Estimated  Average 

Annual  Economic 

Gain,  $200. 

II.  Estimated  Avekage 

Annual  Economic 

Gain,  $300. 

III.  Estimated  Average 

Annual  Econo.mic 

Gain,  $500. 

Annual  Net 

Economic 

Gain. 

Estimated 

Future 
Economic 

Value. 

Annual  Net 

Economic 

Gain. 

Estimated 
Future 

Economic 
Value. 

Annual  Net 

Economic 

Gain. 

Estimated 
Future 

Economic 
Value. 

15 
20 
25 
30 
35 
40 
45 
50 
65 
60 
64 

$50 
100 
170 
250 
300 
300 
300 
275 
150 
80 
50 

$10,000 

9,650 

8,980 

8,015 

6,590 

5,090 

3,590 

2,090 

965 

326 

50 

$75 
130 
225 
350 
400 
400 
400 
380 
330 
260 
170 

$15,000 

14,505 

13,695 

12,320 

10,395 

8,395 

6,395 

4,405 

2,600 

1,090 

170 

$90 
200 
400 
600 
675 
675 
650 
625 
540 
475 
300 

$  25,000 

24,275 

22,950 

20,625 

17,425 

14,050 

10,735 

7,485 

4,575 

1,975 

300 

*  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  4S5. 

From  this  theoretical  estimate  it  is  possible  to  calculate 
the  economic  loss  due  to  premature  death  or  impaired  effi- 
ciency as  the  result  of  illness.  If  the  wage-earner  should 
die  at  the  age  of  35,  the  net  loss  to  society  would  be,  accord- 
ing to  his  wage-earning  capacity,  $6590,  or  $10,395,  or 
$17,425.  In  addition  to  this  there  is  the  strain  on  the 
family  resources  for  medical  and  funeral  ex2:)enses,  and  if 
the  family  is  driven  to  apply  for  charity,  there  is  the  cost  of 


SOCIAL  CAUSES  OF  DEGENERATION.  117 

relief.  Eowntree  ascertained  that  15  per  cent  of  the  primary 
poverty  in  York  was  due  to  the  death  or  disability  of  the 
wage-earner ;  at  least  25  per  cent  of  the  applicants  for  relief 
in  cities  in  the  United  States  are  widows,  and  in  20  per  cent 
of  all  cases  treated  by  the  Kew  York  Charity  Organization 
Society  in  1905,  a  part  of  the  relief  given  was  to  improve 
the  physical  condition  of  the  family.  The  total  economic 
loss  and  expense  entailed  upon  society  by  the  death  or  dis- 
ability of  an  adult  wage-earner  is  from  ten  to  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars.  Even  a  man  of  sixty  is  potentially  worth  one 
thousand  dollars  to  society  in  economic  gain,  not  to  speak  of 
his  greater  value  to  his  family. 

A  relatively  small  but  permanent  condition  of  industry  in 
modern  times,  which  tends  to  produce  a  residual  class,  is  the 
rising  standard  of  efficiency.  An  increasing  amount  of 
heavy  work  formerly  done  by  men  is  now  done  by  machinery. 
Although  there  may  be  ultimately  an  increase  in  the  number 
of  laborers  employed  in  industries  in  which  this  takes  place, 
yet  not  all  the  workmen  once  employed  in  them  can  lind  a 
place.     Professor  Seligman  says  :  — 

"  The  immediate  result  is  often  a  temporary  over-supply  in  the 
particular  trade  and  the  discharge  of  workmen  who  for  the  time  being, 
and  until  they  finally  drift  to  new  openings,  swell  the  ranks  of  the  un- 
employed. One  of  the  most  serious  problems  of  the  modern  industrial 
system  is  how  to  miligate  the  evils  of  this  transition  period."  ^ 

Another  phase  of  a  rising  standard  of  efficiency  which  ex- 
cludes the  least  competent,  especially  the  foreign  immigrants 
in  America,  is  the  swifter  pace  demanded  of  workmen.  In 
any  group  of  laborers,  as  in  draught  horses,  the  gait  has  been 
adjusted  to  the  hours  of  labor  required  and  the  expenditure 
of  energy  demanded. 

In  proportion  as  machine  processes  supersede  the  heavier 
manual  processes,  and  as  the  hours  of  labor  are  shortened, 

1  "  Principles  of  Economics,"  p.  299;  Alden,  "  The  Unemployed," 
p.  66;  Hermann,  "  Oekonomische  Fragen  und  Probleme  der  Gegenwart." 


11^  Amebic  AN  charities. 

the  pace  is  quickened  —  men  must  think  faster  in  order  to 
tend  machinery,  as  a  rule,  than  to  perform  manual  labor. 
Among  a  body  of  laborers  accustomed  in  their  own  country 
to  manual  labor,  there  will  always  be  a  certain  number  who 
cannot  speed  themselves  up  to  the  intensity  required  in 
America.  Mere  strength  and  sinew,  if  not  accompanied  by 
the  adaptability  of  a  high  nervous  organization,  may,  there- 
fore, be  at  a  discount  in  the  modern  labor  market.^ 

Along  with  these  tendencies  has  come  the  formation  of 
trades  unions.  The  development  of  modern  industry  has 
forced  higher  organization;  and  just  as  Franklin  said  to  the 
thirteen  colonies,  so  now  the  conditions  of  industry  say  to 
the  laborer,  "join  or  die."  Those  who  in  consequence  of 
conditions  or  character  cannot  organize,  and  who  for  the 
most  part  belong  to  the  ranks  of  low-skilled  labor,  find  it 
constantly  more  and  more  difficult  to  maintain  themselves. 
Although  at  the  start  they  may  have  possessed  a  degree  of 
efficiency  that  formerly  would  have  won  them  place  and 
living,  they  are  now  unable  to  get  work,  and  through 
involuntary  idleness  their  incapacity  is  intensified  and  per- 
petuated. 

The  most  palpable  means  by  which  occupation  lessens  the 
capacity  of  the  individual  is  accident.  The  industry  in 
which  this  is  most  conspicuous  is  transportation,  and  no 
country  in  the  world  offers  more  illustrations  of  such  injury 
to  railroad  employees  than  the  United  States,  as  will  be 
seen  by  reference  to  Table  XXII. 

The  figures  vary  from  year  to  year.  For  example,  Den- 
mark's railways  killed  no  passengers  in  1903-1904,  but  did 
kill  one  for  1904-1905.  Tasmania  killed  none  in  1903  and 
Victoria  only  one  to  twenty  million  journeys. 

1  See  also  ou  effect  of  speeding  up  machinery,  O'Connell,  Jour,  of  Soc, 
vol.  xxvii.,  p.  491 ;  greater  tension  in  glass-blowing,  Hayes,  p.  498. 


SOCIAL   CAUSES  OF  DEGENERATION. 


119 


TABLE   XXII. 
Railway  Accidexts,*  1902-1904. 


Passengers. 

Employees. 

Killed,  1  in 

Injured,  1  In      Kille 

d,  1  in      Injure( 

,lin 

United  States  .     . 

1,957,441 

84,424 

364               i 

22 

Great  Britain  .     . 

8,073,000 

445,000 

736                J 

i8 

Germany    .     .     . 

11,701,354 

2,113,471           1 

199              451 

Belgium      .     .     . 

33,151.173 

431,937           2 

266                98 

Austria-Hungary 

9,432,303 

1,328,551           1 

908              363 

France   .... 

5,260,000 

1,062,000 

964              355 

Switzerland     .     . 

12,237,515 

849,820           1 

070                42 

Denmark    .     .     . 

18,935,151 

9,467,000 

Norway  .... 

7,690,000 

4,360,000 

Sweden  .... 

6,667,000 

3,450,000 

Russia    .... 

1,080,000 

250,000 

Spain     .... 

2,000,000 

308,000 

Canada  .... 

1,120,000 

158,000 

Victoria      .     .     . 

20,000,000 

208,000 

Tasmania    .     .     . 

271,000 

New  South  Wales 

5,000,000 

589,000 

South  Australia  . 

6,667,000 

2,500,000 

*  Parsons,  "  The  Railways, "  etc.,  p.  444. 

Mr.  Parsons  comments  as  follows  upon  these  figures  :  — 

"  It  appears  from  these  figures  that  railroad  travel  is  safest  in  Den- 
mark, Norway,  Sweden,  Belgium,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Austria- 
Hungary,  and  Australia,  that  it  is  more  dangerous  in  Great  Britain 
than  in  any  of  the  above-named  countries,  and  that  in  the  United 
States  it  is  most  dangerous  of  all ;  about  six  times  as  dangerous  as  in 
Germany,  seventeen  times  as  dangerous  as  In  Belgium,  three  times  as 
dangerous  as  in  France,  and  four  times  as  dangerous  as  in  Great  Britain. 
...  In  the  United  States  the  control  by  the  law  is  not  effective,  and 
we  see  .  .  .  the  tendency  to  look  first,  last,  and  all  the  time  at  the 
cost  and  to  avoid  the  expenditure  necessary  to  abolish  grade  crossings, 
etc.,  if  they  think  it  will  be  cheaper  to  pay  damages." 

Many  of  these  accidents  occur  because  the  railway  com- 
panies do  not  wish  to  go  to  the  expense  of  newer  equipment, 


120  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

such  as  block  signals  and  automatic  couplers  ;  and  others 
because  of  excessively  long  hours  of  labor,  reaching,  in 
emergencies,  even  to  twenty  or  thirty  hours  of  continuous 
duty.  Not  the  least  serious  aspect  of  these  injuries  is  the 
fact  that  railway  employees  are  comparatively  young  men, 
at  the  age  of  highest  economic  value  to  their  families  and  to 
the  state. 

One  of  the  largest  Life  Insurance  Companies  in  the 
United  States  estimates  the  fatal  accident  rate,  as  a  whole, 
from  80  to  85  to  every  100,000  of  the  population.  The  per- 
centage of  fatal  to  total  accidents  varies  from  2.1  in  factory 
labor  to  40.2  per  cent  in  accidents  from  boiler  explosions. 
Assuming  that  25  are  injured  to  one  killed  on  the  average, 
there  is  the  result  that  not  less  than  1,600,000  persons  are 
killed  or  injured  annually  in  this  country.  And  this  does 
not  take  into  account  minor  accidents.  It  seems  to  be  the  ex- 
perience of  accident  insurance  companies  that  the  ratio  of 
fatal  to  non-fatal  accidents  claims  are  as  one  to  one  hundred.^ 

Many  of  these  cases  were  probably  provided  for  by  bene- 
fit associations  maintained  by  the  men  or  by  the  relief  work 
of  the  companies ;  but  such  relief  is  always  partial  and  tem- 
porary, and  of  course  makes  no  atonement  to  the  industry 
of  the  country  as  a  whole  for  the  amount  of  personal  ca- 
pacity destroyed.  It  would  not  usually  be  easy  to  trace 
pauperism  in  a  given  case  to  an  accident  on  a  railroad, 
although  the  author  has  himself  been  called  to  deal  with 
some  cases  of  destitution  resulting  directly  from  such  acci- 
dents ;  but  frequently  pauperism  does  not  result  until  years 
afterwards,  when  a  widowed  mother  has  broken  down  in  the 
attempt  to  support  her  family,  or  when  some  aged  or  in- 
capable relative  has  been  turned  adrift  from  the  incapacity 
of  the  family  to  maintain  him  longer. 

In  1907  Francis  H.  McLean  made  a  report  of  a  detailed 
investigation  of  736  cases  of  industrial  accident  leading  to 
dependency,  which  had  come  to  the  notice  of  charitable 
1  Hunter,  "Poverty,"  Appencjix,  pp.  344-345. 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.  121 

societies.     The  nature  of  these  disabilities  is  shown  in  the 
following  list :  ^  — 

Trade  disease 13 

Building 82 

Electrical 6 

Transportation 25 

Machinery       76 

Street  (drivers  and  messengers) 37 

Dock  work 11 

Explosions 2 

Elevator  (attendants  only) 7 

Blasting 13 

Lifting,  strains,  blows  (result  hernia) 388 

Miscellaneous 77 

736 

It  is  of  special  significance  that  about  one-half  of  these 
accidents  occurred  to  men  under  40,  belonging  to  the  un- 
skilled trades,  whose  wages  were  less  than  $15  per  week. 
Of  the  total  number  421,  or  57  per  cent,  were  permanently 
disabled :  Amputation  of  fingers  and  toes,  7 ;  amputation 
of  legs,  feet,  hands,  or  arms,  20  ;  brain  injured,  10 ;  partially- 
crippled,  8;  paralyzed,  5  ;  blinded,  53;  permanently  injured 
by  lead  poisoning,  2;  spine  injured,  2;  internal  injuries,  3; 
loss  of  hearing,  1 ;  deaf  and  dumb,  1 ;  hernia  resulting  in 
partial  loss  of  wage-earning  ability,  at  least  250  ;  insane,  21 ; 
killed,  45.  What  the  inevitable  cost  of  public  and  private 
relief  for  these  persons  and  their  families  would  be,  it  is  im- 
possible to  estimate,  but  there  had  been  spent  already  an 
average  of  $50  per  person  in  92  cases ;  111  had  received 
hospital  care  for  periods  of  one  month  to  one  year,  53  blind 
and  20  insane  persons  must  be  supported,  and  there  were 
varying  amounts  of  medical  expenditure  for  all  the  remain- 
der. But  this  is  not  all ;  there  was  a  marked  deterioration 
in  a  considerable  number  of  families,  resulting  from  these 
injuries,  shown. in  chronic  dependency,  intemperance  not 

1  Report  to  N.  Y.  State  Conf.  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  1907,  pub- 
lished in  part  in  "  Charities  and  the  Commons,"  vol.  xix.,  pp.  1203  £f. 


122  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

before  present,  lowering  of  standards  of  living^  widow's 
health  broken,  family  disrupted,  habits  of  begging  devel- 
oped, savings  used,  furniture  pawned,  and  families  evicted. 

Accidents  in  mining,  though  very  common,  have  not  been 
statistically  tabulated  as  thoroughly  as  railway  injuries. 
The  occurrence  of  four  mining  disasters  within  a  period  of 
less  than  three  weeks,  in  December,  1907,  in  which  alone 
650  persons  were  killed,  will  illustrate  the  economic  loss  in 
wage-earning  capacity  and  the  consequent  burden  of  depend- 
ence. In  one  town  of  3000  inhabitants  the  monthly  wage 
cut  off  amounted  to  $17,500;  130  resident  families  and 
probably  120  families  in  the  old  country  were  left  without 
means  of  support. 

It  is  acknowledged  that  a  large  part  of  the  injuries  incident 
to  such  occupations  as  transportation,  mining,  and  factory 
labor  are  preventable,  and  if  there  were  as  much  direct  profit 
in  life-protecting  devices  as  there  is  in  inventions  for  economy 
of  production,  the  number  of  such  catastrophes  would 
rapidly  decline.  With  the  aspects  of  prevention  and 
compensation  we  are  not  at  the  moment  concerned,  but 
there  is  already  promise  of  remedy  in  legislation  making 
employers  liable  in  industrial  insurance  and  in  propositions 
for  workingmen's  compensation,  the  cost  of  which  will  be 
added  to  the  expense  of  production  and  finally  borne  by  the 
consumer. 

There  is  a  destruction  of  personal  capacity  and  a  strong 
tendency  to  degeneration  in  a  large  number  of  occupations 
because  of  the  disease-begetting  conditions  that  surround 
the  work.  Much  more  has  been  done  in  England  and  Euro- 
pean countries  in  searching  out  the  source  of  diseases  that 
have  their  origin  in  occupation  than  in  this  country.  From 
the  time  Kamazzini  published  his  memorable  work,  "De 
Morbis  Artificum  Diatriba,"  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  to  Dr.  Arlidge's  "  Diseases  of  Occupations," 
published  in  1892,  and  the  weighty  volume  on  "  Dangerous 


SOCIAL   CAUSES  OF  DEGENERATION.  123 

Trades  "  by  Thomas  Oliver  and  his  collaborators  in  1902, 
there  has  been  a  series  of  careful  studies  of  the  disease- 
engendering  conditions  of  the  trades  and  professions. 

In  this  country,  however,  only  a  few  of  the  labor  bureaus 
have  investigated  this  feature  of  the  conditions  of  labor. 
Among  the  first  to  do  so  carefully  was  the  New  Jersey 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  and  the  results  appear  in  its 
Annual  Eeports  for  1889,  1890,  and  1891.  The  effect  of 
occupations  upon  the  health  and  duration  of  the  trade  life 
of  workmen  was  traced  in  three  industries — pottery,  hat- 
making,  and  glass-blowing.  As  specimens  of  the  facts 
brought  to  light  by  the  investigation  of  these  trades  may 
be  cited  that  of  pot-makers,  who  prepare  the  pots  in 
which  the  raw  material  for  glass  is  melted.  These  pots  are 
made  of  fine  clay,  which  requires  a  great  deal  of  care  in 
its  preparation,  involving  grinding,  pulverizing  the  dry 
clay,  its  mixture,  and  tempering.  At  that  time  little 
attention  was  paid  to  the  improvement  of  the  machinery 
in  use  and  the  buildings  in  which  these  processes  were 
conducted,  so  as  to  keep  the  workmen  from  inhaling  the 
dust.  As  a  consequence,  from  ten  to  fifteen  years  was 
about  the  length  of  time  a  man  could  work  at  the  trade 
continuously  in  health.  The  report  of  the  same  Bureau 
in  1905  shows  a  most  encouraging  decline  of  the  worst 
conditions  in  this  dangerous  trade.  While  there  are  a 
few  establishments  in  which  "lead  colic,"  ''potter's  asthma," 
and  tuberculosis,  the  characteristic  diseases  of  this  oc- 
cupation, are  still  produced  by  antiquated  methods  of 
manufacture,  and  by  excessive  dust,  in  the  majority 
of  them  the  trade  is  now  fairly  healthful.  It  is  particu- 
larly significant  that  in  proportion  as  the  trade  has 
become  less  deadly,  intemperance  has  declined  among  the 
employees. 

In  recent  years  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health 
has   made  a  careful   investigation   of   conditions   affecting 


124  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

health  or  safety  of  employees  ^  in  a  large  number  of  occupa- 
tions. The  textile  industries,  in  which  Massachusetts  stands 
first  in  point  of  production,  employ  more  women  and  minors 
than  men  and  are  generally  regarded  as  unhealthful  because 
of  irritating  dust  which  tends  to  produce  disease  of  the 
lungs.  In  the  mill  towns  it  appears,  however,  that  the 
death-rates  of  mill  operatives  are  not  abnormally  high,  nor 
do  the  general  death-rates  of  these  towns  comj)are  unfa- 
vorably with  those  of  towns  engaged  in  other  lines  of 
industry.  Of  the  93  manufacturing  establishments  inves- 
tigated, 19  carry  on  their  manufacture  under  nearly  ideal 
conditions,  and  23  under  conditions  designated  as  good; 
moderately  bad  conditions  prevail  in  35,  and  distinctly  bad 
in  16 ;  in  all  of  the  two  latter  classes,  the  report  declares, 
marked  improvement  is  possible  without  unreasonable  ex- 
penditure. The  unwholesome  conditions  in  these  establish- 
ments consist  of  poor  light,  impure  air,  non-regulation  of 
artificial  moisture  (i.e.  excess  of  moisture  and  undue  heat 
or  no  artificial  moisture  and  excessive  heat),  more  or  less 
dust  (some  "  infectious  "  dust),  lack  of  cleanliness,  and  poor 
ventilation.  In  this  report,  as  in  almost  every  other  on  the 
same  subject,  mention  is  made  of  the  reckless  indifference 
of  the  employees  themselves  to  ordinary  hygienic  precau- 
tions, even  when  prescribed  as  rules  of  the  factory.  This 
apathy  of  workmen  and  the  neglect  of  employers  have  made 
it  necessary  for  the  state  to  interfere  and  fix  the  plane  of 
competition  below  which  employers  are  not  allowed  to  go 
nor  workmen  to  permit  themselves  to  be  employed.  The 
Massachusetts  Board  of  Health  proposes  that  when  there  is 
any  question  as  to  the  interpretation  of  the  law  requiring 
factories  to  be  well  lighted,  clean,  and  sanitary,  the  inspect- 
ors shall  use  as  a  standard  the  conditions  existing  in  those 
factories  carrying  on  a  similar  business,  in  similar  buildings, 
where  the  health,  safety,  and  welfare  of  the  working  people 
are  most  completely  protected. 

1  Reports,  1905  and  1907. 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.  125 

The  influence  of  occupation  upon  health  may  be  studied 
by  means  of  mortality  statistics,  especially  those  of  occupa- 
tional mortality  and  morbidity.  It  is  generally  recognized 
that  there  is  a  higher  death-rate  among  laboring  classes  than 
among  the  well-to-do,  but  a  careful  search  among  statistics 
collected  by  American  bureaus  of  labor  and  for  the  Federal 
census  shows  that  we  have  no  vital  statistics  that  are  a  safe 
guide  in  considering  occupational  mortality.  This  results 
from  the  fact  that  a  person  frequently  changes  his  occupa- 
tion before  death.  Thus,  if  we  were  to  take  the  average 
age  of  students  at  death,  it  would  be  very  low ;  but  this 
would  not  prove  that  it  was  unhealthf  ul  to  be  a  student,  but 
only  that  nearly  all  students  are  comparatively  young  — 
those  that  die  included.  The  average  age  at  death  of  judges 
must  manifestly  be  greater  than  that  of  lawyers,  irrespective 
of  the  healthfulness  of  the  two  occupations.  The  average 
age  at  death  of  almshouse  paupers  would  be  very  high.  In 
the  case  of  female  operatives  the  low  average  is  no  doubt 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  many  women  leave  the  mills  after 
the  cares  of  a  family  come  to  them,  and  if  they  die  in  ex- 
treme old  age  as  the  mothers  of  families,  their  early  service 
in  the  mills  is  forgotten  ;  whereas,  if  they  had  died  young, 
while  in  the  mills,  their  cases  would  have  helped  to  keep 
down  the  average  age  at  death  of  female  operatives. 

English  statisticians  have  been  giving  much  attention  to 
this  subject  for  a  generation.  Dr.  Farr  gives  the  data  for 
the  following  table  as  to  the  number  surviving  at  certain 
age-periods  in  certain  occupations. 

According  to  this  calculation,  Avhich  is  based  upon  very 
wide  inductions,  the  most  unhealthf  ul  business  is  that  of  an 
innkeeper,  or,  as  we  would  say,  saloon-keeper.  This  illus- 
trates again  the  interaction  of  personal  and  occupational 
causes  of  degeneration.  Next  to  this  comes  the  business  of 
the  butcher,  and  so  on  up,  the  most  healthful  occupation 
being  that  of  a  farmer. 


126 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


TABLE  XXIII.* 
Number  Living  at  Stated  Ages  out  of  1000  Living  at  Age  25. 


Ages. 


35.  45.  55.  60 


Farmer  .  . 
Shoemaker 
Weaver .  . 
Grocer  .  . 
Blacksmith 
Carpenter  • 
Tailor  .  . 
Laborer 
Miner  .  . 
Baker  .  . 
Butcher 
Innkeeper  . 


898.5 
908.8 
920.3 
923.7 
918.8 
905.5 
883.7 
902.1 
915.1 
924.1 
887.0 
861.7 


821.19 
812.45 
822.78 
826.G8 
804.84 
812.18 
758.17 
789.35 
810.79 
787.35 
740.64 
684.99 


730.06 
690.65 
696.04 
690.02 
672.02 
676.58 
6.31.58 
652.85 
646.97 
620.51 
569.47 
491.13 


639.54 
591.64 
581.20 
61 7. .38 
547.02 
576.38 
544.10 
557.51 
535.69 
518.04 
451.41 
395..38 


*  Based  on  table  given  by  William  Farr,  "  Vital  Statistics,"  p.  397. 

Another  table  (see  p.  127)  based  on  English  experience 
gives  a  much  wider  range  of  occupations,  taking  the  rate  of 
clergymen  as  100  for  a  basis  of  comparison. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  mortality  in  different  industries 
varies  widely ;  if  the  mortality  of  clergymen,  for  instance, 
be  taken  as  one  hundred,  that  of  men  engaged  in  earthen- 
ware manufacture  is  three  times  as  great  and  of  inn  and 
hotel  servants  almost  four  times  as  great.  Dr.  Ogle  grouped 
the  causes  of  high  mortality  under  the  following  general 
heads  :  — 

1.  Working  in  a  cramped  or  constrained  attitude,  as  silk- 
weavers. 

2.  Exposure  to  the  action  of  poisonous  or  irritating  sub- 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION. 


1-Z 


TABLE    XXIV. 
Comparative  Mort-alitt  ix  Certaix  Occupatioxs.* 


OcCrPATIOK. 


>  >; 


OccrPATios. 


Clergymen,  Priests.  Min- 
isters   

Lawyers 

^ledical  Men 

Gardeners 

Farmers 

Agricultural  Laborers  .     . 

Fishermen 

Commercial  Clerks  .     .     . 

Commercial  Travellers .     . 

Innkeepers,  Liquor  Dealers 

Inn,  Hotel  Service    .     .     . 

Brewers 

Butchers 

Bakere 

Corn  Millers 

Grocers 

Drapers 

Shopkeepers  generally  .     . 

Tailors 

Shoemakei-s 

Hatters 

Printers 

Bookbindei's 

Builders,  Masons,  Brick- 
lavers 


lOd 
152 
202 
108 
114 
126 
143 
179 
171 
274 
397 
245 
211 
172 
172 
139 
159 
168 
189 
166 
192 
193 
210 

174 


Carpenters,  Joiners  .     .     . 

Cabinet-makers,  Uphol- 
sterers      

Plumbers,  Painters,  Gla- 
ziers     

Blacksmiths 

Engine,  Machine,  Boiler 
Makers 

Silk  Manufacture     .     . 

Wool,  "Worsted  Manufac- 
ture      

Cotton  Manufacture      .     . 

Cutlers.  Scissors-makei-s    . 

Gunsmiths 

File-makers 

Paper-makers      .... 

Glass-workers      .... 

Earthenware-makers     .     . 

Coal  Miners 

Cornish  Miners    .... 

Stone,  Slate  Quarries    . 

Cab,  Omnibus  Service  .     . 

Railway,  Eoad,  Laborers  . 

Costermongers,  Hawkei-s, 
Street  Sellers    .... 


148 

173 

216 
175 

155 
152 

180 
10(3 
229 
186 
300 
129 
214 
314 
160 
331 
202 
267 
185 


308 


*  Calculation  made  by  Dr.  Ogle  for  ISSO-lSSl  and  reproduced  in  Mayo-Smith, "  Statis- 
tics and  Sociology,"  p.  165. 

stances,  such  as  phosphorus,  mercury,  lead,  or  infected 
hair  or  -wool,  as  dippers  of  lucifer  matches,  hatters,  file- 
makers. 


128  AMERICAN  CIIARITIES. 

3.  Excessive  work,  mental  or  physical,  especially  such  as 
involves  sudden  strains,  as  among  fishermen. 

4.  Working  in  confined  or  foul  air,  as  tailors,  printers. 

5.  The  effect  of  alcoholic  drinks,  as  innkeepers,  spirit 
dealers. 

6.  Liability  of  fatal  accidents,  as  miners. 

7.  Inhalation  of  dust,  increasing  the  mortality  from 
phthisis  and  diseases  of  the  lungs ;  the  effect  varying  greatly, 
according  to  amount  and  character  of  dust ;  most  injuri- 
ous is  metallic  dust,  as  in  cutlery,  and  dust  of  stone,  as  in 
pottery-making. 

A  recent  study  made  by  Dr.  John  Tatham  illustrates  the 
excessively  dangerous  character  of  dusty  occupations. 

As  compared  with  the  mortality  figures  for  twenty-three 
occupations,  that  of  the  farmer  stands  the  lowest ;  assuming 
the  mortality  of  agriculturists  to  be  one  hundred,  the  ratio 
of  mortality  of  all  the  other  occupations  is  shown.  As  com- 
pared with  farmers,  the  mortality  in  the  first  seven  occupa- 
tions —  pottery-makers,  cutlers,  file-makers,  glass-makers, 
copper-workers,  gunsmiths,  and  iron  and  steel  manufactur- 
ers —  is  from  three  to  four  and  a  half  times  as  great, 
and  twelve  others  more  than  twice  as  great.  The  high 
rate  from  certain  diseases  is  shown  in  columns  3  and  4. 

The  effect  of  inhaling  foul  air  and  of  a  constrained  posi- 
tion is  shown  in  Table  XXVI.  in  the  high  mortality  figures 
of  certain  occupations  as  compared  with  agriculture. 

But  the  entire  story  regarding  the  degenerative  influences 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  weaker  classes  of  the  community 
is  not  brought  out  by  the  study  of  occupational  mortality, 
but  of  class  mortality.  In  occupational  mortality  we  deal 
only  with  the  diseases  and  deaths  of  adults,  whereas  in  class 
mortality  we  deal  also  with  the  diseases  and  deaths  of  mi- 
nors and  of  incapable  nienibers  of  the  families.  Ansell 
shows  that  out  of  100,000  children  born  in  the  upper  classes, 
nearly  10,000  more  will  reach  the  age  of  fifteen  than  in  the 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION. 


129 


TABLE   XXV.* 

Certain  Dcsty  Occupations. 

Comparative  Mortality  from  Specified  Causes. 


OcCrPATION. 


Manu 


Agriculturist     .     .     .     . 

Potter,  Earthenware 

Manufacturer 
Cutler  .     .     . 
File-maker    . 
Glass-maker  . 
Copper-worker 
Gunsmith 
Iron    and    Steel 

facturer    . 
Zinc-worker  . 
Stone-quarrier 
Brass-worker 
Chimney-sweep 
Lead-worker 
Cotton  Manufacttxrer 
Cooper  and  Wood  Turner 
Eope-maker  .     .     . 
Bricklayer,  Mason 
Carpet  Manufacturer 
Tin-worker    . 
Wool  Manufacturer 
Locksmith     .     .     . 
Blacksmith    .     .     . 
Baker,  Confectioner 


Mortality  Figures. 


100 

453 
407 
373 
335 
317 
294 

292 
266 
261 
250 
249 
247 
244 
238 
220 
215 
213 
204 
202 
194 
177 
177 


106 

333 

382 
402 
295 
294 
324 

195 
240 
269 
279 
260 
148 
202 
250 
219 
225 
226 
217 
191 
223 
159 
185 


Diseases  of 

Respiratory 

System. 


115 

668 
518 
423 
445 
406 
325 

450 
347 
307 
273 
291 
397 
338 
276 
267 
251 
245 
234 
256 
205 
233 
207 


Diseases  of 
Circulatory 

System. 


227 
167 
204 
157 
186 
153 

162 
126 
137 
126 
142 
272 
152 
137 
118 
130 
87 
124 
131 
104 
136 
130 


*  From  Oliver's  "Dangerous  Trades,"  p.  135. 

population  at  large.^    For  our  purpose  perhaps  the  most  con- 
venient class-mortality  statistics  are  those  prepared  by  Dr. 
i"Rate  of  Mortality,"   etc.,   in  the  Upper  and  Professional  Classes, 
Table  II. 


130 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


Grimshaw,  Registrar-General  of  Ireland,  giving  the  experi- 
ence in  Dublin  for  the  four  years  1883  to  1886.^  The  death 
rates  per  1000  for  children  under  five  years  of  age  were 
found  to  be,  in  the  professional  class,  20.52 ;  middle,  58.25 ; 

TABLE   XXVI.* 
Certain  Unhealthful  Occdpations. 
Comparative  Mortality  from  Several  Causes. 


MOKTALITT    FiGlTKBS. 

Diseases  of 

Diseases  of 

Occupation. 

Ratio. 

Phthisis. 

Respiratory 
System. 

Circulatory 
System. 

Agriculturist        .     . 

100 

106 

115 

83 

Bookbinder     . 

246 

325 

218 

115 

Printer   .     .     . 

244 

326 

214 

133 

Musician     ,     . 

236 

322 

200 

191 

Hatter    .     .     . 

231 

301 

210 

141 

Hairdresser 

221 

276 

213 

179 

Tailor     .     .     . 

211 

271 

196 

121 

l^raper    .     .     . 

200 

260 

181 

135 

Shoemaker  .     . 

198 

256 

181 

121 

*  Oliver,  p.  149. 

artisan  class,  69.05 ;  general  service  and  pauper  class,  108.73. 
The  death-rates  were  such  as  to  give  a  specially  high  percent- 
age of  persons  tinder  fifteen  in  the  second  and  third  classes, 
and  the  death-rate  of  children  under  five  years  of  age  is  so 
excessive  in  the  last-named  class  that  the  percentage  of  per- 
sons under  fifteen  was  there  not  up  to  the  average.  Thus 
pressure  is  brought  to  bear  upon  the  poor,  and  especially 
upon  the  artisan  class,  in  a  fourfold  way.  First,  the  number 
under  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  therefore  of  non-producers, 
is  relatively  high ;  second,  the  expense  of  a  disproportionately 
large  number  of  deaths  is  im})0sed  upon  the  poor ;  third,  the 
1  British  Medical  Journal,  vol.  ii.,  1887,  p.  241. 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION. 


131 


amount  of  sickness  is  disproportionately  large ;  and,  fourth, 
the  number  of  births  is  larger  than  in  the  upper  classes. 
The  effect  these  influences  will  have  upon  a  population  of 
1000  in  each  class  appears  in  Table  XXVII. 

TABLE   XXVII. 

Burdens  and  Burden-bearing  Power  of  1000  Persons  in 
Various  Classes,  Population  of  Dublin  (1883-1886). 


Class. 

« > 

Deaths. 

Tears  of 
Sickness. 

Years  of 
Health 

FOB 

Persons 
OVER  15. 

Ratio  of 
Sickness  to 
Effective 

Health. 

Professional  and 

Independent  . 

229 

771 

16.20 

30.40 

746.6 

1:24.5 

Middle      .     .     . 

300 

700 

26.21 

52.42 

663.3 

1:12.6 

Artisans     and 

Petty   Shop- 

keepers     .     . 

322 

678 

23.00 

46.00 

646.6 

1:14 

General  Service 

277 

723 

37.79 

75.58 

665.6 

1:08.8 

By  "  effective  health,"  as  used  in  the  table,  is  meant  the 
health  of  persons  fifteen  years  of  age  or  over ;  that  is,  of  per- 
sons capable  of  doing  something  for  their  own  support,  and 
possibly  for  the  care  of  relatives.  It  seems  that  in  Class  I. 
there  will  be  one  year  of  sickness  to  24.5  of  effective  health ; 
in  Class  II.  one  to  12.6  ;  in  Class  III.  one  to  14  ;  and  in  Class 
IV.  one  to  8.8.  Thus  we  have  some  explanation  of  how  the 
high  death-rate  among  the  unfortunate  classes  operates  to 
impose  burdens  that  crush  them. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  how  constant  and  con- 
spicuous a  factor  sickness  is  in  bringing  persons  to  apply 
for  relief  and  compelling  them  to  become  inmates  of  institu- 
tions.^ The  incidence  of  this  burden  upon  those  least  able 
to  bear  it  is   again  illustrated  in  a  table  derived  from 

1  p.  42,  Chap.  II.,  case-counting. 


132 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


material  supplied  by  Korosi,  the    eminent   statistician   of 

Budapesth. 

TABLE   XXVIII. 

Mortality  and  Morbidity  in  Five  Occupations.* 


No. 

No. 

Years  of 
Life,  25-GO. 

Years  of 

Years  OF 

Ratio  of 

Occupation. 

Living 
AT  25. 

Living 
AT  60. 

Health, 
25-60. 

Sickness 
25-60. 

Health  to 
Sickness. 

Merchants    . 

1000 

587.7 

28,501.23 

27,676.63 

824.6 

33.5  :  1 

Tailors     .     . 

1000 

421.2 

25,673.45 

24,515.91 

1157.5 

21.1:  1 

Shoemakers  . 

1000 

376.2 

23,872.38 

22,624.78 

1247.6 

18.2  :  1 

Servants  .     . 

1000 

290.2 

22,416.92 

20,997.32 

1419.6 

14.7:  1 

Day  Laborers 

1000 

253.3 

22,317.04 

20,823.64 

1493.4 

13.9  :  1 

*  Josef  Korosi,  "Mittheilungen  uber  Individuale  Moi-talitats  —  Beobachtungen,'" 
Budapesth,  1ST6,  p.  26. 

This  table  shows  that  if  we  start  at  the  age  of  25  with 
1000  persons  of  each  class,  there  will  be  living  at  the  end  of 
35  years  :  of  the  merchants,  587 ;  of  the  tailors,  421 ;  of  the 
shoemakers,  376 ;  of  the  servants,  290 ;  and  of  the  day  labor- 
ers, only  253.  During  this  time  the  total  number  of  years 
of  life  lived  by  the  merchants  was  28,501.23,  and  by  the 
day  laborers  only  22,317.  But  worse  than  this,  of  the  years 
of  life  falling  to  the  lot  of  the  day  laborer,  1493  will  be 
years  of  sickness ;  while  of  the  years  of  life  lived  by  the 
merchants,  only  824  will  be  years  of  sickness.  Or  to  state 
the  same  thing  in  another  way,  the  merchant  will  have  33^- 
years  in  which  to  provide  for  one  of  sickness,  while  the 
day  laborer  will  have  only  13.9  years  of  health  in  which  to 
provide  for  one  of  sickness. 

More  recent  figures  are  afforded  by  Watson  who  has  care- 
fully investigated  the  experience  of  the  Manchester  Unity 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  which  is  representa- 
tive of  English  workingmen  generally. 

It  is  seen  that  after  fifty  years  of  age,  sickness  becomes 
a  very  serious  economic  factor",  rising  rapidly  in  the  next 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION. 


133 


fifteen  years  from  two  to  ten  weeks  per  annum.  Moreover, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  these  are  probably  somewhat 
superior  workmen  and  that  the  experience  of  friendly  soci- 
eties underestimates  the  amount  of  prevailing  sickness. 

TABLE    XXIX. 

Mortality  and  Sickness  Rates.* 

Manchester  Unity  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  (Watson,  1893-1897). 


Ages. 

Annual 
Eate  of  Mortality 
PEE  1000  Members. 

Annual 

Eate  of  Sickness 

PER  Member 

(Weeks) 

16-19 

2.5 

.92 

20-24 

3.7 

.90 

2^3-29 

4.6 

.95 

;]()-34 

5.5 

1.06 

35-39 

7.0 

1.27 

40-44 

9.5 

1.58 

45-49 

11.7 

1.99 

50-54 

16.9 

2.75 

55-59 

24.2 

4.02 

60-64 

35.6 

6.31 

05-69 

54.1 

10.59 

70-74 

80.9 

17.40 

75-79 

120.4 

25.15 

80-84 

176.6 

32.27 

85-89 

232.6 

36.12 

90-94 

284.7 

38.89 

95  and  over 

440.0 

38.57 

*  Reprinted  in  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  vol.  xxvii..  p.  4^'.t. 

Of  all  the  forms  of  illness  to  which  the  laboring  classes 
are  liable,  tuberculosis  is  the  most  devastating.  In  Ham- 
burg, Germany,  the  people  who  pay  taxes  on  an  income  under 
1000  marks  have  a  death-rate  from  tuberculosis  almost  four 
times  as  great  as  that  of  the  people  with  an  income  over 
3500  marks.     In  Glasgow  casual  laborers  have  double  the 


134 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


average  city  death-rate  from  this  disease  and  between  the 
ages  of  45  and  55  their  rate  is  twelve  times  that  of  the  pro- 
fessional class.  In  the  last  census  year  there  were  in  the 
United  States  110,000  deaths  from  consumption,  and  statis- 
ticians believe  that  there  are  not  less  than  330,000  living 
persons  affected  with  the  disease.  Between  the  ages  of 
15  and  30,  one-third,  and  between  30  and  45,  one-fourth, 
of  all  deaths  of  American  males  is  from  this  cause.  The 
close  relation  between  this  disease  and  the  different  classes 
of  occupations  is  illustrated  in  a  table  collated  from  Eng- 
lish experience, 

TABLE   XXX, 

Mortality  from  Consumption. 

In  Certain  Groups  of  Occupations,  English  Experience  (1890-1892).* 

Rate  per  1000  at  each  age. 


^ 

J 

.; 

^ 

^ 

< 

0     • 

b 

(C 

Jj; 

a 

►J      Z      H 

&.       . 

b           b      . 

o 

t3 

2  ^  s 

H  s 

a        o  CO 
H    o    «    g 

1  « 

AOES. 

i 

►J 

§  1  s 

1-1    Q 
■<    < 

►4  5   B   a 
0   5   »   -< 

w 

§  5  5 

Cd    » 

z   « 

B   ^    z;    « 

o    1 

o 

< 

O  ►-! 

15-19     .      . 

1.2 

A 

0.8 

1.0 

.8 

.6 

.6 

20-24     .     . 

2.2 

1.3 

2.0 

2.6 

1.8 

1.4 

2.0 

25-34     .     . 

2.1 

1.7 

2.7 

3.4 

2.7 

1.5 

3.2 

35-44     .     . 

2.4 

2.0 

3.8 

4.5 

3.2 

2.1 

4.7 

45-54     .     . 

2.0 

1.7 

4.0 

4.5 

3.4 

2.9 

4.9 

55-64     .     . 

1.5 

1.5 

3.2 

3.8 

2.8 

3.2 

3.4 

65  and  over 

.7 

1.0 

1.8 

2.2 

1.7 

2.8 

2.0 

*  Ilofifmann,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  vol.  .\xvii.,  p.  489. 

Here  the  unhealthful  trades  and  common  labor  show  a 
death-rate  more  than  twice  that  of  the  agricultural  class  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  professional  class  on  the  other,  and 
this  in  those  years  of  life  when  wage-earners  are  of  most 
value  not  only  to  their  families  but  to  society.  The  further 
loss  entailed  by  the  long  and  costly  sickness  which  precedes 
death  may  be  demonstrated  by  the  experience  of  a  single 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.  135 

trade.  President  G.  "\Y.  Perkins  of  the  International  Cigar- 
makers  Union  reported  that  51  per  cent  of  all  deaths  in  that 
trade  in  1888  were  due  to  tuberculosis ;  and  although  the 
per  cent  of  deaths  had  fallen  in  1905  to  one-half,  a  total 
amount  of  $73,000  was  paid  in  that  year  in  sick  and  death 
benefits  on  account  of  consumption.^  Yet  cigar-making  is  by 
no  means  the  most  unhealthy  of  trades.  Kef  erring  again  to 
Table  XXV.  on  p.  129,  we  see  that  the  worst  of  the  dust-pro- 
ducing occupations  —  pottery  and  earthenware  manufacture, 
cutlery  and  file-making,  glass-blowing,  copper-working  — 
have  a  mortality  from  tuberculosis  alone,  two  to  four  times 
that  of  farm-workers ;  and  from  respiratory  diseases,  two  to 
six  times  as  great. 

Yet  excessive  dustiness  is  only  one  of  many  causes  of 
tuberculosis.  It  is  primarily  a  disease  of  under-vitalization, 
due  to  underfeeding,  overwork,  congestion,  and  bad  sanitary 
conditions.  Dr.  Hull  and  Dr.  Hedger,  in  an  investigation 
of  certain  poor  districts  of  Chicago,  named  as  conditions  of 
employment  tending  to  spread  and  increase  consumption: 
low  wages,  high  rents,  and  consequent  crowding ;  excessive 
fatigue  from  long  and  irregular  hours  of  work,  and  unsani- 
tary conditions  of  the  place  of  employment,  such  as  deficient 
daylight  and  sunlight,  foul  air,  and  poor  food.^ 

Having  studied  the  effect  of  certain  unhealthf  ul  conditions 
of  labor  in  producing  disease  among  adults,  we  turn  to  the 
consideration  of  the  employment  of  children.  Child-labor 
was  one  of  the  first  causes  of  degeneration  attacked  by  the 
English  philanthropists  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  at  the 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  in  the  United  States  it 
continues  to  be  a  conspicuous  point  of  attack  for  social  work- 
ers. Until  very  recently  the  discussion  of  the  question  has 
been  based  on  inadequate  information  as  to  the  facts,  but  in 
1907,  Bulletin  69  of  the  United  States  Census  Bureau  pre- 

1  Charities,  vol.  xvi.,  p.  207,  1906. 

2  Jbia.,  vol.  XTi.,  pp.  205-209. 


136 


AMERICAN   CHAEITIES. 


TABLE   XXXI. 
Child  Labor  in  the  United  States  (1900).* 


OCCUPATION. 


Number. 

Per  Cent 
Distribution. 

1,760,178 

100.0 

1,054,446 

60.2 

25,656 

1.5 

8,232 

0.5 

11,566 

0.7 

5,365 

0.3 

128,617 

7.3 

7,011 

0.4 

42,021 

2.4 

23,371 

1.3 

24,209 

1.4 

7,241 

0.4 

3,240 

0.2 

6,279 

0.4 

20,322 

1.2 

138,065 

7.9 

82,004 

4.7 

44,427 

2.5 

8,267 

0.5 

8,938 

0.5 

6,625 

0.4 

13,747 

0.8 

35,070 

2.0 

6,698 

0.4 

3,227 

0.2 

7,661 

0.4 

3,635 

0.2 

10,913 

0.6 

2,936 

0.2 

11,462 

0.7 

11,920 

0.7 

104,081 

5.9 

All  Occupations 


Agricultural  Laborers 

Bookkeepers,  Clerks,  Stenographers,  etc. 
Boot  and  Shoe  Makers  and  Repairers    . 
Draymen,  Hackmen,  Teamsters,  etc.    . 

Glass-workers 

Laborers  (not  specified) 

Launderers  and  Laundresses  .... 
Messengers  and  Errand  and  Office  Boys 

Metal-workers 

Miners  and  Quarrymen 

Packers  and  Porters 

Painters,  Glaziers,  and  Varnishers   .     . 
Printers,  Lithographers,  and  Pressmen 

Salesmen  and  Saleswomen 

Servants  and  Waiters 

Textile  Mill  Operatives 

Cotton  Mill 

Hosiery  and  Knitting  Mill      .     .     . 

Silk  Mill 

Woollen  Mill 

All  other 


Textile  Workers 

Dressmakers 

Milliners 

Seamstresses 

Shirt,  Collar,  and  Cuff  Makers 
Tailors  and  Tailoresses      .     . 
All  other 


Tobacco  and  Cigar  Factory  Operatives 

Woodworkers 

All  Other  Occupations , 


♦Continental  U.S.  Biilletiu  G9  (1907),  U.S.  Census,  p.  16. 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION. 


13T 


sented  the  essentials  for  a  clear  understanding  of  the  extent 
and  location  of  the  evil.  Table  XXXI.  shows  the  number  of 
children,  i.e.  persons  over  ten  and  under  sixteen  years  of 
age,  engaged  in  gainful  occupations  in  the  United  States  in 
1900. 

It  is  apparent  that  by  far  the  most  important  occupation  for 
children  is  that  of  agricultural  laborers.  Of  the  1,750,178 
children  at  work,  60.2  per  cent  were  on  the  farm,  four- 
fifths  of  them  assisting  their  parents.  Since  farm  work  for 
children  is  not  generally  regarded  as  injurious  to  health  or 
morals  and  does  not  necessarily  interfere  with  school  attend- 
ance, attention  should  be  fixed  upon  the  occupations  of  the 
688,207  children  employed  in  other  occupations.  The  dis- 
tribution of  this  group  by  age  and  sex  is  shown  in  Table 
XXXII. 

TABLE   XXXII. 

Breadwinners  10  to  15  Years  of  Age,  exclusive  of  those  Em- 
ployed IN  Agricultural  Pursuits,  in  Continental  United 
States  (1900).* 


Age. 

Total. 

Male. 

Female. 

Per  Cent 
Distribution. 

Num- 
ber. 

Per 
Cent. 

Num- 
ber. 

Per 

Cent. 

Total. 

Male. 

Fe- 
male. 

Total    .    . 

10  years    .    . 

11  years     .    . 

12  years     .    . 

13  years     .     . 

14  years     .    . 

15  years     .     . 

688,207 

409,721 

59.5 

278,486 

40.5 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

20,683 
26,971 
49,670 
89,034 
191,023 
310,826 

11,706 
15,754 
29,756 
53,029 
113,429 
186,047 

56.6 
58.4 
59.9 
59.6 
59.4 
59.9 

8,977 
11,217 
19,914 
36,005 
77,594 
124.779 

43.4 
41.6 
40.1 
40.4 
40.6 
40.1 

3.0 

3.9 

7.2 

12.9 

27.8 
45.2 

2.9 

3.8 

7.3 

12.9 

27.7 
45.4 

3.2 
4.0 

7.2 
12.9 
27.9 
44.8 

Bulletin  09,  p.  9. 


The  evils  of  child-labor  depend  partly  upon  the  age  and 
sex  of  the  child  employed  and  partly  upon  the  character  of 
the  occupation.  About  45  per  cent  of  these  children  were 
15  years  of  age,  and  a  majority  of  them  boys;  for  such  as 


138  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

these  labor  is  not  necessarily  objectionable,  except  as  it  cuts 
them  off  from  all  but  the  most  elementary  education.  If 
the  occupation  were  an  apprenticeship  at  a  trade  under  health- 
ful conditions,  it  might  be  equivalent  in  value  to  a  year 
of  formal  school  training  at  this  period  of  life;  but  under 
the  conditions  of  modern  industry  this  is  seldom  the  case. 

There  remain  at  least  377,381  children  under  14,  of  whom 
153,707  are  girls,  whose  employment  outside  the  home  may 
be  regarded  as  almost  inevitably  injurious.  To  these  should 
be  added  the  124,779  girls  between  15  and  16  to  whom 
wage-earning  employment  is  likely  to  be  far  more  dangerous 
than  to  boys  of  the  same  age.  Of  the  total  number  of  girls  at 
work,  42  per  cent  were  servants  and  waitresses.  The  degree 
of  injury  from  such  employment  depends  upon  a  variety  of 
conditions,  but  is  on  the  whole  probably  less  than  that  to 
which  textile  operatives  (16.8  per  cent)  and  textile-workers 
(10.7  per  cent)  are  exposed.  The  boys  under  16  are  chiefly 
engaged  as  laborers,  messengers,  errand  and  office  boys  (9.2 
per  cent),  textile-mill  operatives  (8.6  per  cent),  miners  and 
quarrymen  (5.9  per  cent),  and  metal-workers  (5.2  per  cent). 

In  order  to  ascertain  more  in  detail  the  family  relationships 
and  social  conditions,  23,657  child  breadwinners  between  10 
and  14  engaged  as  cotton-mill  operatives,  messenger  boys, 
coal-mine  workers,  dressmakers,  etc.,  tobacco  and  silk  mill 
operatives,  and  glass-workers  were  classified  by  the  census 
bureau.  The  results  show  that  these  children  belonged  as 
a  class  to  large  families  of  six  to  eight  persons,  that  as  a  whole 
they  were  far  more  illiterate  than  non-working  children,  and 
that  two-thirds  of  them  belonged  to  families  in  which  there 
were  two,  three,  and  even  more  older  breadwinners.  The  vari- 
ations range  from  188  families  with  no  older  breadwinner,  in 
which  the  child  was  apparently  the  sole  dependence,  to  264 
families  having  no  dependent  members,  in  which  all  the 
older  members  were  wage-earners,  and  in  which  the  labor  of 
children  ought  to  be  entirely  unnecessary. 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.  139 

Beyond  these  figures  there  are  no  authoritative  American 
studies  as  there  are  in  England,  France,  and  Germany, 
showing  the  physical  deterioration  in  those  who  are  early 
put  to  work  at  tasks  which  are  too  heavy  for  them  or 
which,  by  their  nature,  prevent  normal  development.  Mr. 
Frederick  Hoffmann,  the  statistician,  has  contended  that 
there  is  a  tendency  in  the  discussion  of  child  labor,  as  in 
all  social  agitation,  to  overlook  the  necessity  for  a  basis  of 
facts  and  to  exaggerate  exceptional  instances  of  abuse.  On 
this  ground  he  argues  that  no  legislation  on  radical  lines 
should  be  made  until  it  has  been  ascertained  whether  chil- 
dren employed  at  different  trades  are  really  physically  in- 
jured, stunted  in  their  growth,  or  hindered  in  their  develop- 
ment.^ 

Dr.  Felix  Adler,  on  the  other  hand,  declares  that  it  is 
a  "sheer  humiliation"  to  have  to  prove  by  argument  that 
a  child  of  ten  or  twelve  years  is  stunted  and  crippled  by 
laboring  ten  hours  a  day.^  It  would  seem  that  the  facts 
of  English  experience  during  the  whole  of  the  nineteenth 
century  should  be  sufficient  to  prove  the  contention  of 
reformers  that  child  labor  is  an  inevitable  cause  of  degen- 
eration. As  early  as  1796  the  Manchester  Board  of  Health 
embodied  among  their  resolutions  the  following  statement 
of  facts : — 

"The  large  factories  are  generally  injurious  to  the  constitution 
of  those  employed  in  them,  from  the  close  confinement  which  is  en- 
joined, from  the  debilitating  effects  of  hot  or  impure  air,  and  from 
the  want  of  the  active  exercises  which  nature  points  out  as  essential 
in  childhood  and  youth  to  invigorate  the  system,  and  to  fit  our  species 
for  the  employments  and  duties  of  manhood.  The  untimely  labor  of 
the  night  and  the  protracted  labor  of  the  day,   with  respect  to  chil- 

1  "  The  Social  and  Medical  Aspects  of  Child  Labor,"  N.  C.  C,  1903. 
For  the  historical  arguments  in  favor  of  child  labor,  see  Annuls,  vol. 
xxvii..  No.  2,  pp.  313-320;  pp.  281  ff. 

2  Address,  National  Child  Labor  Committee,  Second  Annual  Conven- 
tion, December,  1905. 


140  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

dren,  not  only  tend  to  diminish  future  expectations  as  to  the  sum  of 
life  and  industry,  by  impairing  the  strength  and  destroying  the  vital 
stamina  of  the  rising  generation,  but  it  too  often  gives  encouragement 
to  idleness,  extravagance,  and  profligacy  in  the  parents,  who,  contrary 
to  the  order  of  nature,  subsist  by  the  oppression  of  their  offspring."  i 

English  philanthropists  continued  to  prophesy  the  penalty 
that  must  follow  belated  and  imperfect  legislation  for  the 
protection  of  factory  children.  At  the  end  of  a  century, 
the  physical  degeneration  of  the  English  population  was 
revealed  by  the  enlistments  for  the  Boer  War  and  the 
masses  of  degenerate  unemployables.^ 

In  the  United  States,  there  has  been  recently  accumulat- 
ing a  quantity  of  descriptive  literature  on  this  subject. 
Dr.  Daniel,  from  personal  observation,  thus  describes  the 
evils  of  certain  tenement  sweat-shops :  — 

"  The  finishers  are  made  up  of  the  old  and  the  young,  the  sick  and 
the  well.  As  soon  as  a  little  child  can  be  of  the  least  possible  help,  it 
must  add  to  the  family  income  by  taking  a  share  in  the  family  toil.  A 
child  three  years  old  can  straighten  out  tobacco  leaves  or  stick  the 
rims  which  form  the  stamens  of  artificial  flowers  through  the  petals. 
He  can  put  the  covers  on  paper  boxes  at  four  years.  He  can  do  some  of 
the  pasting  of  paper  boxes,  although  as  a  rule  this  requires  a  child  of  six 
to  eight  years.  But  from  four  to  six  years  he  can  sew  on  buttons  and 
pull  basting  threads.  A  girl  from  eight  to  twelve  can  finish  trousers 
as  well  as  her  mother.  After  she  is  twelve,  if  of  good  size,  she  can 
earn  more  money  in  a  factory.  The  boys  do  practically  the  same  work 
as  the  girls,  except  that  they  leave  the  home  work  earlier,  and  enter 
street  work,  as  pedlers,  bootblacks,  and  newsboys.  I  have  seen  but 
two  children  under  three  years  of  age  working  in  tenements,  one  a  boy 
two  and  one-half  years  old,  who  assisted  the  mother,  and  four  other 
children  under  twelve  years,  in  making  artificial  flowers.  The  other, 
an  extraordinary  case  of  a  child  of  one  and  one-half  years,  who  as- 
sisted at  a  kind  of  passementerie. 

1  Reprinted  in  Annals,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  316;  see  Hutcheson  and  Harrison, 
"  History  of  Factory  Legislation." 

2  McKelway,  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  of  Sci.,  1906;  reprinted  Annals,  vol. 
xxvii.,  pp.  312  ff. ;  Lindsay,  Annals,  pp.  331-336;  Dennis,  Everybody's 
Magazine,  February,  1905. 


SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.  141 

"The  sick,  as  long  as  they  can  hold  their  heads  up,  must  work  to 
pay  for  the  cost  of  their  living.  As  soon  as  they  are  convalescent, 
they  must  begin  again.  A  child  from  three  to  ten  or  twelve  years 
adds  by  its  labor  from  fifty  cents  to  81.50  per  week  to  the  family 
income.  The  hours  of  the  child  are  as  long  as  its  strength  endures  or 
the  work  remains.  A  child  three  years  old  can  work  continuously 
from  one  and  one-half  to  two  hours  at  a  time  ;  a  child  ten  years  old 
can  work  twelve  hours.  Obviously  under  such  conditions  the  child  is 
deprived  of  the  two  greatest  rights  which  the  parents  and  the  state 
are  bound  to  give  each  child  :  health  and  an  education. 

"The  particular  dangers  to  the  child's  health  are  such  as  can  be  in- 
duced by  the  confinement  in  the  house,  in  an  atmosphere  always  foul. 
The  bad  light  under  which  the  child  works  causes  a  continual  eye- 
strain, from  the  effects  of  which  the  child  will  suffer  all  its  life.  The 
brain  of  the  child  under  eight  years  of  age  is  not  developed  sufficiently 
to  bear  fixed  attention.  Hence  it  must  be  continually  forced  to  fix  its 
attention  to  the  work,  and  in  doing  this  an  irreparable  damage  is  done 
to  the  developing  brain.  A  child  forced  to  earn  its  bread  has  neither 
the  time  nor  the  opportunity  to  obtain  an  education."  ^ 

Mr.  Owen  R.  Lovejoy  cites  as  the  results  of  different 
kinds  of  premature  employment :  ^  — 

"  The  wrecking  of  the  nervous  system  in  young  girls  who  spend  the 
years  of  adolescence  bent  over  sewing  machines  run  at  lightning  speed  ; 
the  bronchial  and  pulmonary  affections  of  the  child  of  the  coal-break- 
ers ;  the  languor  and  backwardness  of  the  little  street-trader  ;  the  fail- 
ing vision  of  the  tenement-house  worker,  and  the  diseases  of  the  feet 
and  spine  which  have  been  recently  so  strikingly  traced  by  Dr.  Frei- 
burg to  the  unnatural  exactions  of  factory  labor  upon  boys  and  girls." 

In  some  industries  the  chief  danger  to  children  lies  in 
accident.  A  report  on  anthracite  mines  in  Pennsylvania 
showed  that  one-half  of  the  slate-pickers  in  the  breakers 
were  under  sixteen  years  of  age ;  yet  75  per  cent  of  the 
accidents  were  to  boys  under  sixteen  years  of  age.^  Mr. 
Lovejoy  further  points  out  that  the  subnormal  wages  of 

1  Report  of  National  Consumers'  League,  1905,  pp.  28-29. 

2  "  Child  Labor  and  Philanthropy,"  N.  C.  C,  1907,  p.  198. 

8  Lovejoy,  "Child  Labor  in  the  Coal  Mines,"  Annals,  vol.  xxvii.,  No.  2, 
pp.  293  ff. 


142  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

these  children  not  only  tends  to  lower  the  standard  of  living, 
but  fosters  the  idleness  of  older  boys,  floods  the  market  with 
unskilled  laborers  who  had  neither  time  nor  opportunity  to 
learn  a  trade  in  their  youth,  and  thus  precipitates  labor 
conflicts. 

The  interdependence  of  child  labor  and  illiteracy  is  illus- 
trated by  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,^  who  shows  that  arranging 
all  the  states  in  four  groups  according  to  the  numbers  of 
their  illiterate  children,  five  leading  manufacturing  states, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Illinois,  Ohio,  and  New  Jersey,  all 
stand  near  the  bottom,  and  have  more  than  20,000  illiterate 
children ;  while  the  great  cotton  manufacturing  states  of  the 
South  stand  at  the  very  bottom.  Massachusetts  alone,  of 
the  great  manufacturing  states,  lies  in  group  two  at  the 
middle  of  the  list. 

Miss  Jane  Addams,  from  observation  of  tramps  in  lodg- 
ing-houses, concludes : — 

"  This  inordinate  desire  to  get  away  from  work  seems  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  fact  that  the  men  have  started  to  work  very  early,  be- 
fore they  had  the  physique  to  stand  up  to  it,  or  tlie  mental  vigor  with 
which  to  overcome  its  difficulties,  or  the  moral  stamina  which  makes  a 
man  stick  to  his  work  whether  he  likes  it  or  not.  ...  It  is  no  figment 
of  the  imagination  to  say  that  the  human  system  breaks  down  .  .  . 
and  that  general  debility  and  many  diseases  may  be  traced  to  pre- 
mature labor."  2 

Miss  Addams  shows  that  the  employment  of  children  in 
factory  labor  often  pauperizes  the  parents.^  The  immigrant 
peasantry  from  Europe  and  the  poor  white  farmers  in  the 
South  have  been  accustomed  to  farm  work  from  their  child- 
hood, and  they  see  no  difference  between  it  and  factory 
labor  to  which  they  consign  their  children.  The  children 
adapt  themselves  to  the  new  conditions  more  easily  than 
the  parents,  so  the  parents  drop  out,  with  the  result  that 

1  Kelley,  "  Illiterate  Children,"  etc.,  Charities,  March  14,  1903. 

2  "  Child  Labor  and  Pauperism,"  N.  C.  C,  1903,  pp.  114-121. 
8  Corroborated  by  Lindsay,  Annals,  vol.  xxvii.,  No.  2,  p.  333. 


SOCIAL   CAUSES  OF  DEGENERATION.  143 

the  parents  become  more  and  more  dependent  on  the  chil- 
dren's earnings.  The  parasitic  character  of  sweating  indus- 
tries and  of  child  labor  has  been  pointed  out  by  many- 
modern  writers.  Sidney  Webb,  in  discussing  the  labor  of 
children  who  live  at  home  and  work  for  less  than  the  cost 
of  subsistence  and  nurture,  and  of  adult  women  working 
at  wages  insufficient  to  keep  them  in  full  efficiency,  who 
are,  in  fact,  partially  maintained  by  another  class,  says :  — 

"  An  industry,  to  be  economically  self-supporting,  must  maintain  its 
full  establishment  of  workers,  unimpaired  in  numbers  and  vigor,  with 
a  sufficient  number  of  children  to  fill  vacancies  caused  by  death  or 
superannuation.  If  the  employers  in  a  particular  trade  are  able  to 
take  such  advantage  of  the  necessities  of  their  work  people  as  to  hire 
them  for  wages  actually  insufficient  to  provide  enough  food,  clothing, 
and  shelter  to  maintain  them  in  average  health ;  if  they  are  able  to 
work  them  for  hours  so  long  as  to  deprive  them  of  adequate  rest  and 
recreation  ;  and  if  they  can  subject  them  to  conditions  so  dangerous 
and  unsanitary  as  positively  to  shorten  their  lives,  that  trade  is  clearly 
obtaining  a  supply  of  labor  force  which  it  does  not  pay  for.  Such 
parasitic  trades  are  not  drawing  any  money  subsidy  from  the  incomes 
of  other  classes,  but  in  thus  deteriorating  the  physique,  intelligence, 
and  character  of  their  operatives  they  are  drawing  on  the  capital  stock 
of  the  nation."  i 

In  reply  to  the  objections  of  many  modern  manufacturers 
that  a  particular  industry  will  be  ruined  if  children  cannot 
be  employed,  we  may  point  to  the  prosperity  of  the  cotton 
industry  in  England  and  such  industries  as  glass-making  in 
the  United  States,  which  appear  to  thrive  in  proportion  as 
child  labor  has  been  dispensed  with.^  But  if  some  check 
to  certain  industries  were  involved  in  the  strict  limitation  of 
child  labor,  it  must  be  questioned  whether  the  service  to 
society  is  not  after  all  worth  the  cost.  If  a  particular  in- 
dustry does  not  justify  the  employment  of  adults  at  a  living 
wage  under  decent  conditions,  the  community  would  suffer 
little  from  the  loss  of  it,  as  compared  with  the  destruction  of 

1  Webb,  "  Industrial  Democracy,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  749. 

2  Lovejoy,  "  Child  Labor  iu  the  Glass  Industry,"  Annals,  pp.  303-304. 


144 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


character  and  physique  involved  in  parasitic  labor.  The 
time  is  certainly  not  far  off  when  we  shall  demand  and  en- 
force by  effective  legislation,  that  every  industry  shall  bear 
the  full  cost  of  legitimate  production.  We  cannot  afford, 
says  McKelway,  to  put  colts  to  the  plough. 

A  study  of  the  labor  of  adalt  women  has  disclosed  a  simi- 
lar tendency  to  deterioration  of  health  and  capacity  as  the 
result  of  inadequate  wage,  long,  irregular  hours  of  labor,  and 
exposure  to  physical  and  social  hardships.  But  since  space 
is  lacking  to  consider  all  the  social  tendencies  toward  de- 
generation, we  must  turn  to  a  phase  of  employment  affect- 
ing most  injuriously  wage-earners  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages 
in  a  great  number  of  industries.  Intermittent,  irregular 
labor  may  arise  from  seasonal  variations,  or  from  the  spas- 
modic nature  of  modern  industry,  or  from  the  inclination  of 
employing  companies,  as  in  the  bituminous  coal  regions  and 
the  meat-packing  industries,  to  keep  a  large  number  of  men 
partially  employed  rather  than  a  small  number  occupied  all 
the  time.  Of  the  same  nature  is  the  unemployment  from 
industrial  crises,  which  leave  behind  a  legacy  of  individual 
degeneration  and  personal  unthrift. 

TABLE   XXXIII. 

Applicants  for  Relief  and  Industrial  Displacement 

(1895-1896). 


NUMBEK 

OF  Cases. 

Pee 
Cent. 

Cases  of  displacement  indicating  industrial  con- 
traction      

106 

159 

128 

80 

22.4 

33.6 
27.1 
16.9 

Cases  of  insufficient,  irregular,  or  poorly  paid  em- 
ployment   

Replacement  indicating  no  character  weakness    . 
Replacement  indicating  character  weakness    .     . 

473 

100.0 

SOCIAL   CAUSES   OF  DEGENERATION.  145 

In  a  study  of  industrial  displacement  made  by  Francis  H. 
McLean  from  the  records  of  the  Xew  York  Charity  Or- 
ganization Society,  the  different  classes  are  shown  as  in 
Table  XXXIII.  From  further  information  it  appears  that 
40  per  cent  of  these  men  were  only  irregularly  employed 
even  when  they  last  had  employment.^ 

But  if  it  be  thought  that  such  statistics  as  these  overstate 
the  proportions  of  uncertain  employment,  we  have  only  to 
rehearse  the  facts  of  seasonal  unemployment  in  New  York 
City  in  1905  to  see  how  serious  the  situation  is  even  in  pros- 
perous years.     Mr.  Frank  J.  Warne  writes  as  follows:  — 

"The  seasonal  nature,  of  unemployment  is  indicated  in  the  fact 
that  of  the  365,000  members  of  trade  unions  reporting  to  the  New 
York  State  Bureau  of  Labor  in  1905,  as  many  as  32,000,  or  8.7  per 
cent,  were  idle  in  the  January-March  period,  while  for  July-Septem- 
ber only  7500,  or  but  2  per  cent,  were  out  of  work.  The  report  of  the 
State  Bureau  of  Labor  shows  that  for  the  four  years  since  1901 
as  many  as  20  to  25  per  cent  of  the  membership  of  the  labor 
unions  have  been  idle  in  January.  The  year  1905  was  an  ex- 
ceptionally favorable  one  for  employment  at  this  season  (March),  and 
yet  among  brick-layers  and  masons  43  per  cent  were  idle,  carpenters 
and  joiners  more  than  20  per  cent,  and  painters  and  decorators  more 
than  29  per  cent.  Out  of  more  than  400,000  working  men  and  women 
reporting  from  all  trades  throughout  the  state  in  1907,  more  than  77,000, 
or  19  per  cent,  were  not  at  work  at  the  end  of  March  of  that  year, 
while  more  than  55,000  did  not  work  at  all  during  the  first  three 
months  of  the  year."  ^ 

But  it  is  with  the  effect  of  these  conditions  that  we  are 
at  present  concerned.  Dr.  Tatham  shows  that  the  mor- 
tality of  unoccupied  males  is  two  and  a  half  times  as  great 
as  that  of  occupied  males.  Mr.  Percy  Alden  declares  that 
the  relation  between  inefficiency  and  unemployment  is  as 
close  as  that  of  drink  and  poverty,  and  quotes  a  large  em- 
ployer of  labor  as  saying :  — 

1  Quoted  by  Devine,  "Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  156, 160. 
*  Charities  and  the  Commons,  vol.  xix.,  1908,  p.  1585. 


146  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

"  Between  five  and  six  per  cent  of  my  skilled  men  are  out  of  work 
just  now.  During  the  long  spell  of  idleness  any  one  of  these  men  in- 
variably deteriorates.  In  some  cases  the  deterioration  is  very  marked. 
The  man  becomes  le.ss  proficient  and  less  capable,  .  .  .  nothing  has  a 
worse  effect  upon  the  caliber  of  such  men  than  a  spell  of  idleness."  ^ 

The  warden  of  Kings  County  Jail,  New  York,  said :  — 

"Over  fifty  per  cent  of  the  commitments  to  this  institution  are  for 
vagrancy  —  the  crime  (?)  of  being  out  of  work  and  homeless.  I  am 
convinced  from  seeing  the  efficient  work  of  some  of  these  men  while 
here,  that  they  never  would  be  here,  could  they  have  secured  employ- 
ment outside.  By  our  treatment  of  the  unemployed  we  are  making 
criminals  of  men  who  have  hitherto  been  honest,  self-sustaining  mem- 
bers of  the  community." 

Idleness  during  a  short  period,  for  hard-working  people, 
would  be  no  inevitable  injury  if  their  leisure  could  be  turned 
to  account  in  recreation  and  culture ;  but  in  the  situation  of 
the  poor  it  means  first  of  all  discouragement  and  that  fear 
of  want  which  Robert  Hunter  has  said  is  the  essence  of 
poverty.  The  man  must  spend  his  time  tramping  in  search 
of  work,  or  idling  in  streets,  saloons,. and  lodging-houses,  for 
the  tenement  offers  no  inducements  for  home-staying.  As  re- 
sources dwindle,  he  will  be  less  and  less  well  nourished  and 
clothed,  and  when  at  last  he  is  able  to  resume  work,  he  is 
physically  and  mentally  debilitated.  If  the  process  be  re- 
peated season  after  season,  each  is  likely  to  find  him  pro- 
gressively less  competent  and  ambitious. 

Nor  will  the  deterioration  affect  him  alone.  If  he  have  a 
family,  the  wife  must  take  any  kind  of  casual  labor  that  may 
be  available,  however  exhausting  it  may  be  and  regardless  of 
her  own  physical  fitness,  while  at  the  same  time  the  whole 
family  will  have  less  food,  fuel,  and  clothing.  This  extra 
labor  and  great  thrift  on  the  wife's  part  may  tide  over  the 
period  of  the  husband's  out-of-work  for  one  season,  or  two, 

1  "The  Unemployed,"  p.  6. 


SOCIAL  CAUSES  OF  DEGENERATION.  147 

or  three  even ;  but  sooner  or  later,  sickness  or  some  other 
common  vicissitude  is  liable  to  drain  the  last  resources  and 
deprive  the  household  of  its  independence.  Mrs.  Bosanquet 
says  that  it  takes  a  very  high  order  of  intellect  to  be  self- 
supporting  on  an  intermittent  income ;  to  what  extent  ir- 
regular employment  and  its  accompaniment,  intermittent 
income,  operate  in  enervating  the  working-class,  can  be 
fully  known  only  by  those  who  live  among  them  and  see 
dependents  in  the  process  of  making.^ 

In  the  foregoing  outline  of  a  few  conspicuous  social 
causes  of  degeneration,  the  element  of  personal  habits  and 
character  has  been  omitted.  It  is  obvious  that  individuals 
of  strong  physique  or  judgment  may  escape  the  diseases 
incident  to  their  trades,  while  others  who  are  careless  or 
intemperate  will  succumb  to  them.  It  has  often  been 
observed  that  the  victims  of  tuberculosis  are  lacking  in 
judgment  and  as  a  class  more  deficient  in  the  practice  of 
personal  hygiene  than  well  persons.  In  other  words,  dis- 
ease, accident,  unemployment  —  all  the  environmental  causes 
of  deterioration  and  incapacity  —  seem  to  have  an  affinity 
for  the  relatively  unfit.  Yet  every  worker  is  enmeshed  in 
a  network  of  fateful  conditions  for  which  he  is  not  respon- 
sible and  from  which  he  could  not  escape  were  he  of  ever 
so  immaculate  character  and  habits,  of  tireless  industry,  or 
even  of  a  considerable  degree  of  capacity. 

We  found  that  disease  produces  poverty,  and  we  now 
find  that  poverty  produces  disease ;  that  poverty  comes 
from  degeneration  and  incapacity,  and  now  that  degenera- 
tion and  incapacity  come  from  poverty.  Yet  it  is  not  with- 
out benefit  to  trace  the  whole  dismal  round  of  this  vicious 
circle,  for  it  well  illustrates  the  interaction  of  social  forces. 
A  produces  B,  and  B  reacts  to  increase  A.  In  biblical 
phrase,  "The   destruction  of   the  poor  is  their  poverty." 

1  "  Aspects  of  the  Social  Problem,"  p.  97. 


148  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

The  "  unfit "  aid  in  accomplishing  their  own  extermination. 
But  in  tracing  the  long  circle  the  number  of  those  forces 
which  are  distinctly  preventable  constantly  grows,  and  in- 
cludes not  only  the  diseases  of  occupations,  but  also  many 
of  those  pertaining  to  the  manner  of  living,  concerning 
which  nothing  has  yet  been  said. 


CHAPTER   Y.i 

PACTS   AND    CONDITIONS   OF   POVERTY. 

Thus  far,  in  the  study  of  the  causes  of  poverty,  the  larger 
part  of  the  American  material  has  been  derived  from  the 
Charity  Organization  Society  schedules  devised  in  1888.  Al- 
though the  general  conclusions  drawn  from  them  have  not 
been  disputed,  the  limitations  of  the  case-counting  method 
have  been  increasingly  evident.  In  1899  the  committee  of 
the  National  Conference  revised  and  rearranged  the  sched- 
ules, throwing  out  a  number  of  the  minor  causes,  and  re- 
grouping the  more  conspicuous  under  "  Causes  within  the 
Family  and  outside  the  Family,"  instead  of  under  "  Miscon- 
duct and  Misfortune."  ^ 

CAUSES  OF  DISTRESS. 

I.  Causes  xcithiyi  the  Family. 

Disregard  of  family  ties  (desertion,  neglect  to  contribute  by  chil- 
dren, brothers,  sisters,  or  other  natural  supporters). 

Intemperance  (abuse  of  stimulants  or  narcotics). 

Dishonesty  or  other  moral  defects. 

Lack  of  thrift,  industry,  or  judgment. 

Physical  or  mental  defects  (blind,  deaf,  crippled  from  birth,  insane, 
feeble-minded). 

Sickness,  death,  or  accident. 

II.  Causes  outside  the  Family. 

Lack  of  employment  not  due  to  employee  (changes  in  trade,  intro- 
duction of  machinei-y,  hard  times,  strike  or  lockout,  partial  or 
complete  shut-doAvn,  removal  of  industry,  etc. 

Defective  sanitation. 

1  Interpolated  by  the  Reviser. 

2  Schedule  form  reproduced  in  Charities  Review,  vol.  viii.,  1898,  p.  470. 

149 


150  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Degrading  surroundings. 
Unwise  pliilanthropy. 
Public  calamity. 
III.     Unclassified. 

The  schedule  as  thus  modified  was  less  mechanical  and  the 
assumption  of  the  family  rather  than  the  individual  as  the 
unit  of  observation  was  a  great  gain  in  logic,  but  it  did  not 
remove  the  fundamental  objections  to  the  method.  Between 
1899  and  1907  the  rapidly  changing  view  of  poverty  caused 
several  leading  societies  to  discontinue  the  use  of  the  new 
schedules,  and  the  scientific  errors  of  the  method  were  finally 
set  forth  fully  in  an  address  made  by  Miss  Lilian  Brandt, 
Statistician  of  the  New  York  Charity  Organization  Society, 
before  the  Philadelphia  Conference  of  Charities  in  1907.^ 

Miss  Brandt  attacked  the  method  on  several  grounds,  but 
chiefly  that  case-counting  reflected  the  mind  of  the  agent 
who  set  down  the  cause,  rather  than  the  cause  itself,  and 
that  it  assumed  both  that  it  is  possible  to  decide  on  a  prin- 
cipal cause  and  that  the  person  who  has  the  task  can  do  it. 
She  says ;  — 

"  What  the  decision  as  to  the  cause  of  need  will  be  in  any  case  de- 
pends not  on  the  facts  of  the  case,  but  on  the  knowledge  of  them  sev- 
eral generations  back  by  the  person  making  the  decision,  plus  his  own 
bias,  determined  by  natural  temperament  and  education,  plus  his  abil- 
ity to  recognize  a  cause  when  he  sees  it.  In  other  words,  the  decision 
is  merely  an  expression  of  opinion,  and  is  of  no  scientific  value." 

Describing  the  effect  of  the  altered  views  of  poverty  Miss 
Brandt  continues  :  — 

"  In  general  the  change  has  consisted  in  moving  the  causes  in  the 
first  group  over  into  the  second,  placing  them  under  the  head,  '  outside 
the  famQy.'  Behind  '  disregard  of  family  ties '  we  see  defective  edu- 
cation of  both  boys  and  girls,  instability  of  employment,  the  influence 
of  institution  life  ;  behind  '  intemperance  '  we  see  poor  food,  congested 
living,  lack  of  opportunities  for  wholesome  recreation,  and  the  power 
of  the  liquor  trust  ;  in  the  place  of  '  licentiousness '  and  '  dishonesty ' 

1  To  be  published  in  the  Quar.  Jour,  of  Econ.,  1906. 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS  OF  POVERTY.         151 

and  '  other  moral  defects '  (when  they  are  causes  of  poverty,  being 
much  more  frequently  devices  for  escape  from  poverty)  we  are  in- 
clined to  put  primarily  our  ridiculously  ineffectual  penal  methods,  and 
again  defective  education,  and  again  unwholesome  conditions  of  mod- 
ern city  life  ;  '  lack  of  industry,  thrift,  and  judgment '  appear  in  many 
cases  to  be  really  the  results  of  poverty  —  the  lack  of  imagination 
induced  by  years  of  privation  showing  itself  in  shiftlessness,  under- 
nourishment in  laziness  and  mental  sluggishness,  and  premature  em- 
ployment, which  we  would  doubtless  have  commended  as  thrift  a 
generation  ago,  in  lack  of  industry  in  the  grown  man.  'Physical  and 
mental  defects '  are  to  us  now  the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  inade- 
quate provision  for  the  segregation  and  education  of  defectives,  careless 
neglect  of  the  welfare  of  school  children,  unintelligent  and  indiffer- 
ent methods  of  instruction  in  the  public  schools.  '  Sickness,  accident, 
and  death '  we  analyze :  the  sickness  is  traced  to  ignorance  of  the 
causes  of  preventable  disease,  to  bad  sanitary  conditions  in  dwelling 
and  workshop,  to  insufficient  provision  for  curing  certain  kinds  of  ill- 
ness, to  the  ignorance  of  great  numbers  of  mothers  concerning  the  care 
of  their  babies,  to  the  action  of  commercial  interests  which  make  it  a 
difficult  matter  for  even  the  well-to-do  to  get  pure  milk  and  food,  to 
governmental  inefficiency  exhibited  in  a  contaminated  water-supply 
and  dirty  streets  ;  for  accident  we  read  neglect  to  provide  safety  de- 
vices or  to  permit  them  to  be  used,  and  an  evasion  of  responsibility  for 
the  results  which  is  none  the  less  criminal  because  legalized  by  the  con- 
struction of  the  courts  ;  and  almost  every  death  that  is  a  cause  of  de- 
pendence we  know  now  is  preventable,  which  is  equivalent  to  saying 
that  we  have  found  a  cause  farther  back  than  'death,'  and  that  we 
have  also  found  out  how  that  cause  may  be  controlled. 

"  The  renowned  causes  of  poverty  are,  in  short,  largely  symptoms 
and  results  of  poverty.  They  are,  to  be  sure,  potent  to  produce  more 
poverty,  but  they  are  not  the  beginning." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities 
and  Corrections  in  1906,  Dr.  Lee  K.  Frankel  offered  a  new 
classification  of  the  causes  of  dependence  which  still  further 
reflects  the  more  modern  attitude.  It  consists  of  four  divi- 
sions only  :  ignorance,  industrial  inefficiency,  exploitation 
of  labor,  and  defects  of  governmental  supervision.  Miss 
Brandt  thinks  this  should  be  reduced  to  two,  cutting  out 
ignorance  and  inefficiency  as  the  result  of  the  other  two ;  but 


152  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

she  would  add  a  third  heading  to  express :  "  the  defective 
■will  which  chooses  vinwisely  iu  the  face  of  knowledge  and 
the  selfishness  which  evades  responsibility."  She  pro- 
phesies, moreover,  that  when  exploitation  of  labor  and  de- 
fective governmental  supervision  have  been  eliminated, 
"  the  irreducible  minimum  of  natural  depravity,  moral  de- 
fects, or  whatever  it  may  be  called,  will  not  be  large  enough 
to  constitute  a  serious  problem." 

Her  conclusion  is  :  *'  the  removal  of  the  existing  visible 
effects  of  the  '  underlying  causes '  will  do  almost  as  well  as 
the  removal  of  the  causes  themselves,  or,  in  other  words, 
poverty  is  itself  the  most  potent  cause  of  poverty  and  the 
most  responsive  to  treatment."  What  philanthropy  has 
to  deal  with,  then,  is  "  adverse  conditions,"  which  may  be 
studied  by  observing  dependent  families  or  by  pursuing 
some  injurious  feature  of  city  life  to  its  effects  —  "  These 
adverse  conditions  in  the  city  are  the  'underlying  causes'; 
the  adverse  conditions  in  the  families  are  effects."  What 
we  need  to  know  is,  not  what  amount  of  poverty  is  due  to 
this  or  that  "  cause,"  but,  for  instance,  how  much  siclcness 
or  unemployment  there  is  at  work  producing  poverty  and 
how  to  remedy  it. 

The  first  study  made  from  this  point  of  view  to  ascertain 
the  "  adverse  conditions  "  of  dependent  families  was  made 
by  Miss  Brandt  for  the  Committee  of  Social  Research  of 
the  New  York  Charity  Organization  Society  in  1905.^  Of 
the  1531  district  cases  studied,  44.54  per  cent  had  not  been 
recorded  in  the  Registration  Bureau  previous  to  the  present 
application,  which  corroborates  Professor  Warner's  state- 
ment that  those  who  apply  for  relief  to  the  Charity  Organ- 
ization Societies  are  not  permanently  dependent,  but  such 
as  are  ordinarily  self-supporting,  and  require  help  only  at 
critical  times.     Diagram  I.  shows  that  a  majority  of  them 

1  Report  N.  Y.  C.  O.  S.,  1904-1905,  pp.  6.3  ff. ;  the  most  important  part  of 
this  valuable  report  is  reprinted  in  Cliarities  and  the  Commons,  vol.  xv., 
1906,  pp.  62  ff,    Diagrams  I.,  II.,  and  III.  are  reproduced  from  this  report. 


FACTS  AND  CONDITIONS  OF  POVFRTT. 


153 


(54.23  percent)  are  normal  family  groups  ;  widows  form  one- 
quarter  of  the  whole  number;  married  couples  without 
children  are  chiefly  aged  persons ;  and  the  absence  of 
single  men  and  women  is  explained  by  their  treatment  in 
another  bureau. 

DIAGRAM   I. 


Married  couples 
with 

children 


Wdow« 

25.G7Af 


Deserted  wives 
a25^ 


Married 


\\ 


couples, , 
without 
ctiildren 

7.19^ 


Diagram  II.,  of  the  Age  of  Heads  of  Families  by  groups, 
shows  that  a  large  proportion  of  them  are  young  persons  — 
75  per  cent  under  50,  and  11  per  cent  under  30,  years  of  age. 

Of  the  4253  children  of  these  families  under  21  years 
of   age,  95.21  per  cent  were  at  home,   1.5  per   cent   with 


154 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


relatives,  leaving  only  3.29  per  cent  (a  very  small  number) 
who  had  been  placed  in  institutions.  Twenty  per  cent  of 
the  families  with  children  had  five  or  more,  indicating  that 
large  families  were  a  factor  in  producing  dependence. 
Elsewhere  Miss  Brandt  discusses  the  social  influences  tend- 
ing to  narrow  the  wage-earning  period  by  curtailing  both 


DIAGRAM  II. 


It^S  223  312  274  ifiS  140  l(i;)  66 


Under  30 


30 -S4 


35-39 


50-59 


6U-60 


70  end  over 


ends.  Society  is  constantly  raising  the  age  limit  of  work 
for  children,  while  the  tendency  of  industry  is  to  throw  out 
a  larger  and  larger  section  of  old  men,  thus  lengthening  the 
periods  of  normal  dependence  at  the  expense  of  the  produc- 
tive years.  Fifty-two  per  cent  of  the  children  of  these  fami- 
lies were  under  14  years  of  age  ;  while  very  few  instaiires 
of  capacity  for  full  self-support  are  found  among  the  individ- 
uals who  were  over  60  years  of  age.  In  these  respects,  this 
dependent  group  is  abnormal,  as  shown  by  Diagram  III. 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY.         155 

DIAGRAM  III. 

Proportion  of  Depexdexts  of  Wage-earning  Age 
As  compared  with  General  Population  of  New  York  City. 


Age  composition  of  1527  families  in  charge  of  the  Charity  Organi- 
zation Society  in  1905  (circle  A),  and  of  the  aggregate  population  of 
New  York  City  in  1900  (circle  B).  The  black  segment  of  each  circle 
indicates  roughly  the  proportion  of  the  population  of  wage-earning 
age  ;  the  white  segment  the  proportion  which  is  naturally  dependent. 

It  is  seen  that  children  among  the  dependents  constitute 
more  than  half  of  the  whole  number,  while  they  are  less 
than  a  third  of  the  general  population ;  and  that  the  propor- 
tion of  men  and  women  in  the  prime  of  life  is  considerably 
smaller  among  the  first  class  as  compared  with  the  second. 
In  other  words,  the  number  of  the  naturally  dependent  is 
large,  and  the  number  of  wage-earners  relatively  small. 

Finally  the  investigator  concluded  that  lack  of  em- 
ployment was  perhaps  the  most  constant  characteristic  of 
dependent  families.  In  71  per  cent  of  them  the  chief  wage- 
earner  was  out  of  work  at  the  time  of  the  application.  Al- 
though the  reason  for  idleness  was  rarely  stated,  the  concur- 
rent circumstances  were  frequently  illness  and  injury  due  to 
accident.  There  was  frequently  a  disinclination  to  work  regu- 
larly, usually  connected  with  intemperance.     Sometimes  the 


156  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

man  was  incapacitated,  sometimes  of  less  than  average 
ability,  occasionally  there  was  no  market  for  his  peculiar 
talents,  or  there  was  a  slack  season  in  his  trade. 

It  seemed  clear  that  most  of  the  idleness  was  due  to  inca- 
pacity of  some  sort  rather  than  to  industrial  conditions ;  and 
the  incapacity,  in  turn,  to  illness  or  physical  disability.  The 
characteristic  illnesses  were  tuberculosis,  rheumatism  (ac- 
companied generally  by  intemperance),  and  childbirth.  The 
impossibility  of  distinguishing  between  shiftlessness  as  a 
moral  defect  and  shiftlessness  as  a  result  of  under-nourish- 
ment  made  it  difficult  to  determine  the  degree  of  moral 
defects ;  but  as  written  down,  one-fourth  were  intemperate, 
one-fifth  deserted  their  families,  a  small  proportion  were 
shiftless,  unreliable,  or  bad-tempered.  To  make  the  picture 
truer  must  be  included  :  "  those  intangible  and  ill-detined 
defects  .  .  .  perversities  of  temper  and  peculiarities  of  tem- 
perament which  in  a  millionnaire  may  pass  unnoticed,  but 
which  in  a  man  on  the  poverty  line  are  of  vital  significance 
to  his  economic  standing."  ^ 

The  second  way  of  studying  the  adverse  conditions  of  the 
poor  is  the  pursuit  of  a  single  evil  from  its  effects  backward 
through  the  network  of  municipal,  industrial,  commercial,  or 
political  influences  which  promote  or  suffer  or  superinduce 
it.  Of  this  character  are  the  reports  on  unsanitary  housing, 
on  tuberculosis,  desertion,  child  labor,  sweating  industries, 
and  similar  evils,  which  are  the  premonition  and  the  basis 
of  intelligent  reform. 

We  have  been  chiefly  concerned  in  the  three  preceding 
chapters  with  the  historical  development  of  the  explanations 
of  poverty  and  pauperism,  and  in  setting  forth  the  conclu- 
sions so  far  attained  by  the  statistical  method  from  the 
study  of  dependents.  It  is  impossible  to  say  to  what  ex- 
tent the  rapid  evolution  of  these  latest  views  of  social  rather 
than  individual  responsibility  for  poverty  is  the  logical 
1  Ibid.,  pp.  79-81,  digest  of  conclusions. 


FACTS  AXD   CONDITIONS   OF  POVEBTY.         157 

result  of  democratic  theories  in  this  country  ;  or  how  far 
they  have  been  influenced  by  economics  and  biology.  But 
unquestionably  the  work  of  Charles  Booth  and  B.  Seebohm 
Rowntree  in  England  has  been  the  crystallizing  force  to  de- 
termine the  form  which  social  research  has  assumed  so  sud- 
denly in  America. 

Since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  Warner's 
"American  Charities,"  in  1894,  Charles  Booth  has  completed 
his  monumental  study  of  the  life  and  labor  of  the  people  of 
London,  and  this  has  been  followed  by  other  studies  on  a 
smaller  scale  but  of  a  more  intensive  character  both  in  Eng- 
land and  America. 

The  pictures  drawn .  by  Booth  and  Rowntree,  of  whole 
cross-sections  of  the  population  of  London  and  York,  fur- 
nished for  the  first  time  a  basis  for  an  estimate  of  the 
amount  and  proportions  of  absolute  and  relative  poverty. 
Mr.  Booth  and  his  assistants,  between  1886  and  1903,  col- 
lated an  immense  mass  of  material  concerning  the  wage- 
earning  classes  of  East  London  in  their  family,  social,  and 
industrial  life,  with  the  purpose  of  picturing  the  conditions 
of  each  class  and  the  relation  of  welfare  to  earnings.  He 
divided  the  population  of  London  into  eight  classes  accord- 
ing to  the  earnings  of  the  head  of  the  family,  as  follows :  — 

A.  Lowest  class  —  occasional  laborers,  loafers,  and  semi- 
criminals. 

B.  Casual  earnings  —  "  very  poor." 

C.  Intermittent  earnings       )       ,  „ 

D.  Small  regular  earnings    f  ^ 

E.  Regular  standard  earnings  —  unskilled  labor. 

F.  Higher-class  labor  —  foremen  and  skilled  artisans. 

G.  Lower  middle  class. 

H.    Upper  middle  or  "  servant-keeping  "  class. 

Having  determined  that  an  income  of  21s.  per  week  was 
the  minimum  amount  which  would  barely  maintain  a  family 
of  five  persons,  he  estimated,  on  the  basis  of  his  investiga- 


158  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

tions,  the  proportions  of  the  population  belonging  to  these 
several  classes :  — 

^-the  lowest  I  ^^1^^  jg^_  ^  ^^^^  37,610  or    0.7  o/, 

5_verypoor    J  316,834  or    7.5% 

C  and  Z)  — poor,  18s.  to  21s.  a  week  938,293  or  22.8% 

In  Poverty  30.7% 

E — working  class  —  22s.  to  30s.  a  weekl  „  igfi  503  or  51  5°/ 
F  —  working  class  —  30s.  to  60s.  a  week  i 

Q  and  IT— middle  class  and  above  749,930  or    7.8% 

In  Comfort  69.3% 

Inmates  of  institutions 99,830 

Total 4,309,000 

From  this  classification  it  appears  that  classes  A  to  D  — 
"  those  sinking  into  want "  —  constituted  30.7  per  cent  or 
nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  population;  while  classes  E  to 
H — those  "  in  comfort  rising  to  affluence"  —  constituted 
69.3  per  cent  of  the  whole. 

In  1899  Mr.  B.  Seebohm  Eowntree,  with  his  assistants, 
made  a  house-to-house  inquiry,  covering  11,560  families, 
two-thirds  of  the  population  of  the  city  of  York,  England. 
His  tables  are  not  directly  comparable  with  those  of  Mr. 
Booth,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  are  based  on  the  total 
family  income,  instead  of  the  weekly  wages  of  the  chief 
wage-earner,  and  owing  also  to  his  different  division  of 
classes.  Table  XXXIV.  presents  the  results  of  his  classi- 
fication by  income. 

Applying  Mr.  Kowntree's  minimum  income  standard  of 
21s.  8d.  —  estimated  on  the  basis  of  scientifically  determined 
food  values — to  this  table,  it  appears  that  7230  persons  had 
less  than  this  amount  weekly,  and  2312  others  not  more 
than  2s.  above  it.  Mr.  Rowntree  finally  concluded  that  27.84 
per  cent  of  the  population  of  York  below  the  "  servant-keep- 
ing "  class  were  in  poverty  ;  that  is,  were  "  living  in  a  state 
of  poverty  (total  earnings  insufficient  to  supply  adequate 
food,  clothing,  and  shelter  for  the  maintenance  of  physical 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS  OF  POVERTY. 


159 


efficiency)  or  so  near  to  that  state  that  tliey  are  liable  to  sink 
into  it  at  any  moment." 

TABLE   XXXIV. 

Classification  of  the  Popllatiox  of  York  bt  Income. 

(Boioitree,  p.  21.) 


Family  Income  fob  Moderate 

Number 

Percentage 
IN  Each 

Percentage 

CLASS. 

Family,  i.e.  Two  Adults  plus 

Each 
Class. 

Class  of 

OF  Total 

Two  to  Foue  Children. 

Total  Wage- 
earners.* 

Population, 

A 

Under  18s.  per  week    .     .     . 
Earning  Money,  Average 

lis 1589 

Dependent  on  Charity,  368 

1,057 

4.2 

2.6 

B 

19s.  and  under  21s.      .     . 
Above  21s.  and  under 
21s.  8(; 781 

4,492 

9.6 

5.9 

C 

21s.  and  under  30s.      .     .     . 

15,710 

33.6 

20.7 

D 

Over  30s 

24,595 

52.6 

32.4 

E 

Female  Domestic  Servants  . 

4,29G 

5.7 

F 

Servant-keeping  Class      .     . 

21,8.'30 

28.8 

G 

In  Public  Institutions      .     . 

2,932 

3.9 

75,812 

100.0 

100.0 

*  Excluding  domestic  servants  and  those  in  public  institutions. 

As  to  the  amount  of  poverty  in  the  United  States  there  is 
not  even  an  approximate  measure.  Mr.  Robert  Hunter  made 
an  estimate  of  the  number  of  persons  in  distress  in  New 
York  and  Boston  in  recent  years,  by  collating  the  figures  of 
institutional  and  outdoor  relief,  with  these  results :  — 

1903    20  per  cent  of  the  people  of  Boston  in  distress. 

1897     19  per  cent  of  the  people  of  New  York  State  in  distress. 

1899     18  per  cent  of  the  people  of  New  York  in  distress. 

1903     14  per  cent  of  the  families  of  Manhattan  evicted  every  year. 

10  per  cent  (about)  of  those  who  die  in  Manhattan  have  pauper 
burials. 


160  AMEUICAN  CBAUITIES. 

On  this  basis  he  estimated — "  conservatively  " — that  cer- 
tainly not  less  than  14  per  cent  of  the  people  in  prosperous 
times,  and  probably  not  less  than  20  per  cent  in  bad  times, 
are  in  distress.^  The  number  of  unknown  and  variable 
factors  in  such  an  estimate  make  it  of  no  value  for  the  pur- 
pose of  comparison,  but  it  has  served,  nevertheless,  to  direct 
attention  to  the  question  as  to  how  much  of  this  distress  is 
remediable. 

Mr.  Frederick  L.  Hoffmann,  statistician,  has  recently 
called  attention  to  the  available  statistics  on  pauperism  in 
the  State  documents,  especially  those  of  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  Connecticut,  and  Indiana.  ^  The  annual  reports  of  the 
Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Charity  show  that  the  number 
of  paupers  in  institutions  increased  from  4.3  per  1000  of  the 
population  in  1877-1886  to  4.4  during  1887-1896  and  finally  to 
5.1  during  the  last  ten  years.  At  the  same  time  there  has  been 
a  material  increase  in  the  per  capita  cost  of  support.  In  the 
city  of  Boston,  on  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  paupers  per 
1000  of  the  population  declined  from  2.3  in  1888  to  1.5  in 
1905.  Mr.  Hoffmann  does  not  argue  from  these  and  other 
interesting  data  which  he  quotes  that  poverty  or  pauperism 
is  increasing  or  decreasing,  but  merely  urges  that  here  exists 
the  material  for  ascertaining  the  causes  and  progress  of 
pauperism  in  certain  localities  and  for  a  history  of  poor-law 
administration. 

From  the  standpoint  of  prevention  and  relief  it  is  of  far 
less  importance  to  know  just  how  many  people  are  in  dis- 
tress than  to  know  how  to  save  them  from  falling  into  it  or 
how  to  extricate  them  from  it.  In  recent  years  relief  work- 
ers have  laid  increasing  emphasis  on  the  necessity  of 
adequate  relief;  while  neighborhood  workers,  with  equal  in- 
sistence, have  declared  that  the  total  income  of  many  decent 
and  hard-working  people  was  so  much  below  a  living  stand- 

1  Hunter,  "  Poverty,"  pp.  20-27. 

2  N.  C.  C,  1907,  p.  132  ff. ;  12  valuable  tables. 


FACTS  AND  CONDITIONS  OF  POVERTY.         161 

ard  that  degeneration,  if  not  dependence,  must  be  the  result. 
As  we  have  seen,  in  the  studies  of  Booth  and  Rowntree,  a 
"  poverty  line  "  was  established,  below  which  the  struggle 
for  existence  must  inevitably  end  in  a  degree  of  failure. 
Stimulated  by  these  studies  and  influenced  by  their  own  ex- 
perience, charity  agents,  settlement  workers,  and  philan- 
thropists generally  have  concentrated  their  research  upon 
the  determination  of  the  poverty  line  in  American  cities. 

It  has  generally  been  conceded  that  the  standard  of  living 
of  the  working  classes  in  the  United  States  is  considerably 
above  that  of  Europe,  but  there  has  been  very  little  accurate 
information  as  to  what  that  standard  was  in  given  localities 
or  what  its  relation  was  to  the  standard  of  compensation.  In 
this  country  the  first  step  has  been  to  ascertain  the  incomes 
of  considerable  bodies  of  the  population  and  how  those  in- 
comes were  spent.  Three  studies  on  the  standards  and  cost 
of  living  have  already  been  published  :  one,  of  25,440  work- 
ingmen's  families  throughout  the  United  States  having  less 
than  $1200  a  year  income,  by  the  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor ;  a  second,  of  200  families  in  New  York 
City,  by  Mrs.  Louise  Boland  More,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Greenwich  House  Committee  on  Social  Investigations  ;  and 
a  third,  of  612  families  (chiefly  in  New  York  City),  by  the 
Special  Committee  on  Standard  of  Living  of  the  New  York 
State  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections.^  It  would 
be  impossible  to  compare  the  results  of  these  studies  with 
the  European  investigations  because  of  differences  of  methods 
and  of  standards  both  of  living  and  compensation  ;  but  they 
are  readily  comparable  with  each  other. 

Out  of  the  total  25,440  families  investigated  by  the  Bureau 
of  Labor,  11,156  were  selected  as  "  normal "  families  ;  that 

1  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Labor,  1903.  More, 
"  Wage-earners'  Budgets,"  1907.  Frankel,  Preliminary  Report  of  Special 
Committee  on  Standard  of  Living,  N.  Y.  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Corrections,  1907. 


162 


AMEBICAN  CHABITIES. 


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FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS  OF  POVERTY. 


163 


is,  families  having  the  husband  at  work  ;  a  wife ;  not  more 
than  five  children  and  none  over  14  years  of  age ;  no  de- 
pendent, boarder,  lodger,  or  servant ;  and  expenditures  for 
rent,  fuel,  lighting,  food,  clothing,  and  sundries. 

Table  XXXV.  shows  the  expenditure  per  family  for  vari- 
ous purposes,  by  classified  income. 

Translating  the  table  into  per  cents,  a  comparison  of  the 

per  cent  expended  for  each  purpose  according  to  the  size  of 

the  family  income    can    easily  be  made  in  the  following 

table : — 

TABLE   XXXVI. 

Per  Cent  of  Expenditure  for  Various  Purposes  in  11,156 
Normal  Families,  by  Classified  Income. 


Classified  Income. 

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Under  $200     .... 
$200  or  under  $300 
$300  or  under  $400 
$400  or  under  $500 
$500  or  under  $600 
$000  or  under  $700 
$700  or  under  $800 
$800  or  under  $900 
$900  or  under  $1000 
$1000  or  under  $1100 
$1100  or  under  $1200 
$1200  or  over  .    .    . 

Total     .... 

16.93 
18.02 
18.69 
18.57 
18.43 
18.48 
18.17 
17.07 
17.58 
17.53 
16.59 
17.40 

6.69 
6.09 
5.97 
5.54 
5.09 
4.65 
4.14 
3.87 
3.85 
3.77 
3.63 
3.85 

1.27 
1.13 
1.14 
1.12 
1.12 
1.12 
1.12 
1.10 
1.11 
1.16 
1.08 
1.18 

50.85 
47.33 
48.09 
46.88 
46.16 
43.48 
41.44 
41.37 
39.90 
38.79 
37.68 
36.45 

8.68 
8.66 
10.02 
11.39 
11.98 
12.88 
13.50 
13.57 
14.35 
15.06 
14.89 
15.72 

15.58 
18.77 
16.09 
16.50 
17.22 
19.39 
21.63 
23.02 
23.21 
23.69 
26.13 
25.40 

100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 

18.12 

4.57 

1.12 

43.13 

12.95 

20.11 

100.0 

A  study  of  these  percentages  shows  that  all  of  the  eco- 
nomic propositions  laid  down  by  Dr.  Engel,  the  German  sta- 
tistician, in  1857,  which  have  been  a  standard  of  comparison 
ever  since,  do  not  hold  for  American  families. 

Dr.  Engel's  propositions  were :  — 

First.  —  That  the  greater  the  income,  the  smaller  the  per- 
centage of  outlay  for  subsistence. 


164  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

Second.  —  That  the  percentage  of  outlay  for  clothing  is 
approximately  the  same,  whatever  the  income. 

Third.  —  That  the  percentage  for  lodging  or  rent  and  for 
fuel  and  lighting,  is  invariably  the  same,  whatever  the  income. 

Fourth.  —  That  as  the  income  increases  in  amount,  the 
percentage  of  outlay  for  sundries  becomes  greater. 

The  first  and  the  fourth  are  confirmed  in  the  United  States, 
for  the  per  cent  for  food  falls  from  50  to  36,  as  income  in- 
creases, and  for  sundries  rises  from  15  to  25 ;  but  the  second 
does  not  hold,  for  the  expenditure  for  clothing  rises  with 
income  from  8  to  15  per  cent.  The  third  appears  to  be  only 
partially  true,  for  the  percentage  of  rent  only  varies  slightly 
as  the  income  rises  and  that  for  lighting  even  less,  while 
the  expenditure  for  fuel  falls  from  6.69  to  3.85  per  cent. 

Setting  aside  for  the  present  the  question  of  whether  the 
lower  grades  of  income  are  sufficient  to  maintain  even 
physical  efficiency,  we  notice  that  the  surplus  income  over 
necessities  in  the  higher  grades  is  spent  chiefly  in  clothing 
and  sundries.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  clothing 
expenditure  is  for  two  adults  and  from  two  to  five  children ; 
and  that  "  sundries  "  includes  savings  and  all  outlay  for 
sickness,  insurance,  dues,  church,  charity,  equipment,  educa- 
tion, and  pleasure.  Table  XXXVII.  shows  the  average 
expenditure  for  these  purposes  for  2567  families  reporting 
in  detail. 

Scanning  these  expenditures  in  detail  and  measuring 
them  by  the  American  idea  of  decency,  it  does  not  seem 
that  those  families  had  too  much  to  eat  and  to  wear  or 
too  many  luxuries.  Certainly  16.7  cents  per  day  per  person 
for  food  is  not  overfeeding,  even  if  3.31  of  those  persons 
are  not  adults.  Professor  Jaffa,  investigating  the  food 
standards  of  three  groups  of  Chinese  in  California,  meas- 
ured them  by  Professor  Atwater's  standard  for  a  man  at 
moderate  work,  and  concluded  that  they  were  just  suffi- 
ciently fed  on   18   to   21   cents   per   person   per   day.     If 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY. 


165 


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166  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

$193.93  seems  at  first  sight  an  ample  amount  for  sundries, 
a  consideration  of  the  separate  items  certainly  dispels  the 
idea.  For  instance,  $20.54  for  sickness  and  death  must 
include  the  expense  of  child-bearing,  of  accidents,  —  to 
which  laborers  are  especially  liable,  —  and  of  children's 
diseases,  —  to  which  the  workingman's  children  are  fre- 
quently exposed.  Even  with  the  recourse  of  free  clinics  and 
dispensaries,  this  amount  would  scarcely  cover  a  single  case 
of  serious  illness  in  the  year,  much  less  provide  for  good 
nursing  or  food  and  care  to  restore  a  wage-earner  to  effi- 
cient condition.  Nor  does  $12.28  seem  an  undue  amount 
to  spend  in  a  year  for  the  recreation  of  five  persons ;  even 
if  liquor  and  tobacco,  for  which  $23.37  on  the  average  is 
expended  per  year,  be  included  as  the  "recreation"  of  the 
man,  it  leaves  only  $2.85  apiece  for  the  amusements  and 
vacation  of  the  rest  of  the  family.  The  category  of 
"  Other  Purposes  " —  $45.13  —  must  include  car  fares,  which, 
as  we  shall  see  from  other  studies,  varies  in  New  York  City 
from  $14.00  to  $18.84  per  family,  dentistry,  tools,  educa- 
tion, and  "  spending  money,"  —  in  short,  all  the  miscella- 
neous expenses  of  the  family. 

In  comparison  with  the  9062  families  in  Table  XXXV., 
p.  162,  whose  incomes  were  less  than  $800,  these  2567 
families  must  be  relatively  well  off,  yet  nearly  one-fifth  of 
them  had  a  deficit  in  the  year  1901.  Table  XXXVIII. 
shows  how  some  of  them  met  it. 

It  appears  that  more  than  half  of  the  507  families  having 
a  deficit  were  in  debt.  The  showing  of  the  families  in  Table 
XXXV.  is  even  less  favorable,  for,  of  25,440  reporting  on 
this  subject,  almost  one-sixth  had  an  average  deficit  of 
$65.68  each,  and  a  third  just  came  out  even. 

The  most  intensive  study  yet  made  of  the  standards  and 
cost  of  living  in  this  country  is  that  by  Mrs.  More,  of  Green- 
wich Settlement  House,  New  York  City.  It  presents  a 
detail  picture  of  the  conditions  of  life  of  200  families  in  the 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY,         167 

TABLE    XXXVIII. 

Surplus  or  Deficit  of  2507  Families 

Having  an  Average  Income  of  $827.19  and  an  Average  Family  of  5.31 
Persons. 

Having  a  Surplus 1559 

Having  neither  Surplus  nor  Deficit 482 

Having  Deficit  but  Making  Payment  on  Owned  House  .       19 

Having  Deficit 507 

Manner  of  Meeting  Deficit : 

Obtained  Credit 244 

From  Former  Savings 94 

Mortgage  on  Real  Estate  or  Furniture  ...  3 

Borrowed  Money 13 

Other  Methods 3 

Not  Reported 150 

Total 2567        607 

years  1903-1905,  in  a  city  where  the  struggle  for  existence 
is  most  intense,  and  it  has  the  merit  of  an  unusual  degree 
of  critical  thoroughness  because  of  the  investigator's  friendly 
relations  with  the  neighborhood.  Professor  Franklin  H. 
Giddings  has  pointed  out  that  whatever  error  is  involved 
in  this  study  is  necessarily  an  error  of  vinder-  rather  than 
over-statement,  since  the  200  families  making  up  the  final 
list  were  those  able  and  cordially  willing  to  cooperate  with 
Mrs..  More ;  they  were,  therefore,  in  point  of  intelligence 
and  character,  somewhat  above  the  average  of  the  class  in 
which  their  economic  lot  was  cast.^ 

As  in  all  such  studies,  by  far  the  most  valuable  portion 
of  the  work  is  the  comment  upon  the  statistical  tables, 
which,  in  this  case,  shows  a  rarely  sympathetic  and  judicial 
attitude  of  mind.  Only  the  briefest  summaries  can  be 
reproduced  here  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  condi- 
tions of  poverty  which  tend  to  produce  dependence.  The 
income  and  expenses  of  these  200  families  are  shown  in 
Table  XXXIX. 

1  Preface  by  Professor  Giddings,  pp.  iii-v. 


168 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


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FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY.         169 

This  summary  shows  that  as  the  income  increases  the 
size  of  the  family  increases  also,  and  that  all  expenditures 
for  all  purposes  increase  as  the  income  increases,  the  family 
becoming  larger  at  the  same  time.  It  shows  further  that 
the  deficit  natural  to  the  group  of  smallest  incomes,  hav- 
ing an  average  of  $344.09  for  4.2  persons  in  the  family,  de- 
creases quite  steadily  until  the  group  having  an  average 
income  of  $746.78  is  reached,  in  which  the  size  of  the 
family  has  only  increased  to  5.3 ;  then  there  begins  to  be 
a  surplus,  which  remains  a  surplus,  though  not  a  regularly 
increasing  one,  until  the  income  is  between  $1000  and 
$1200,  from  which  point  it  increases  rapidly.  The  point 
of  most  importance  to  be  noted  is  the  constant  interde- 
pendence of  the  size  of  the  family  and  the  income,  and  of 
the  resulting  surplus  or  deficit.^  The  summary  shows  also 
the  total  results  of  the  entire  investigation.  The  total 
average  income  is  $851.38,  of  which  $836.25  was  expended, 
leaving  a  surplus  of  only  $15.13,  unless  the  amount  paid 
for  insurance  —  $32.25  —  be  added,  which  is  considered  by 
the  people  a  form  of  savings. 

The  income  and  expenditure  of  these  families  by  nativity 
of  the  chief  wage-earner  is  shown  in  Table  XL.  (p.  170). 

Some  interesting  racial  comparisons  are  suggested  by  this 
table,  which  shows  that  52.5  per  cent  of  the  200  families 
were  native  and  47.5  per  cent  foreign  born.  The  foreign 
families  had  the  largest  average  income,  $  889.81,  as  com- 
pared with  $816.61  for  the  native,  and  the  largest  families, 
6  persons  as  against  5.3  persons  for  the  native.  Making 
allowance  for  this,  the  foreigners  still  have  the  larger  income 
and  the  larger  surplus.  Omitting  the  nationalities  having 
only  1  to  4  families,  it  is  noticeable  that  the  Irish  have  the 
largest  per  cent  of  income  expended  and  the  largest  average 
deficit,  while  the  German  and  Italian  families  were  the  most 

1  More,  pp.  60-61,  a  digest  rather  than  full  quotation  of  the  most 
striking  conclusions. 


170 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


TABLE   XL. 

Summary  of  Income  and  Expenditures  in  200   Families   by   the 
Nativity  of  the  Head  of  the  Family. 


Total 
Fami- 
lies. 

Average 
Income. 

Total 
Expendi- 
tures. 

Average 
Surplus 

OR 

Deficit. 

Average 
Size  op 
Family. 

United  States  .     .     . 
Ireland 

105 

$816.61 

$804.15 

$12.46 

5.3 

35 

852.83 

867.22 

-  14. .39 

6.4 

England      .... 

15 

927.80 

929.20 

-1.40 

5.9 

Germany    .... 

17 

1032.14 

982.43 

49.71 

5.9 

Italy 

15 

846.80 

841.05 

5.75 

6.6 

France    

4 

558.50 

554.75 

3.75 

4.0 

Norway  and  Sweden 

4 

1171.75 

854.25 

317.50 

3.5 

Switzerland     .     .     . 

2 

792.00 

774.50 

17.50 

5.0 

Austria 

1 

731.00 

731.00 

0.00 

6.0 

Scotland      .... 

1 

832.00 

832.00 

0.00 

8.0 

Cuba 

Total  Foreign    . 
Total  U.  S.  and  For- 

1 

450.00 

460.00 

-  10.00 

4.0 

95 

$889.81 

$871.74 

$18.07 

6.0 

eign     

200 

$851.38 

$836.25 

$15.13 

5.6 

provident.  The  English  families  were  scarcely  able  to  keep 
out  of  debt  and  saved  nothing,  although  the  deficit  is  owing 
to  the  exceptional  circumstance  of  three  deaths  in  one 
family.^  The  contrast  between  the  Irish  and  Germans  is 
especially  striking,  as  shown  by  the  comparison  on  page  171. 

The  Irish  families  spent  more  for  food,  light  and 
fuel,  clothing,  and  sundries  and  had  a  deficit,  and  the 
German  families  spent  more  for  rent  and  insurance  and 
saved  $30. 

There  were  only  23  families  out  of  the  200  where  the 
father's  earnings  were  the  sole  source  of  income.  Of  the 
total  average  income  of  $851,885  63.5  per  cent  came  from 

1  More,  pp.  66-74. 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY. 


171 


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172  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

the  husbands'  labor,  9.4  per  cent  from  that  of  the  wives, 
11.5  per  cent  from  the  children,  9.2  per  cent  from  boarders  or 
lodgers,  and  6.4  per  cent  from  other  sources.  It  is  customary 
for  the  wage-earning  children  over  14  to  give  all  they  earn 
to  the  mother,  the  boys  vmtil  they  are  18  years  old  and  the 
girls  until  21,  after  which  they  pay  board  and  keep  the 
rest  for  themselves.  On  the  whole  the  husbands  furnish 
the  greater  part  of  the  income,  but  the  amounts  from  the 
other  members  of  the  family  is  surprisingly  large.  On  the 
effect  of  this  system  Mrs.  More  says :  — 

"The  popular  impression,  outside  the  worlcing  class,  seems  to  be 
that  the  entire  income  of  the  workingman's  family  is  from  the  earn- 
ings of  the  head  of  the  family.  This  implies  that  if  the  head  of  the 
family  is  an  unskilled  day  laborer,  the  income  of  his  family  is  of  that 
grade.  On  the  contrarj',  some  of  the  largest  incomes  in  this  study  are 
of  this  class.  The  fact  is  there  are  comparatively  few  families  of  wage- 
earners  who  are  entirely  dependent  on  the  earnings  of  the  head  of  the 
family.  This  may  be  true  in  families  where  there  are  several  young 
children,  and  the  wife's  strength  is  needed  at  home,  but  even  then  it  is 
surprising  how  frequently  other  sources  of  income  are  added,  such  as 
gifts  from  friends,  from  emi^loyers  at  Christmas,  presents  of  clothing  for 
the  children,  help  from  relatives  or  churches  and  charitable  societies 
in  the  poorer  families,  etc.  As  the  children  grow  older  and  require  less 
care  at  home,  the  mother  takes  in  sewing  or  goes  out  washing,  secures 
a  janitor's  place,  cleans  offices,  and  does  whatever  she  can  to  increa.se 
the  weekly  income.  She  feels  this  to  be  her  duty,  and  often  it  is  neces- 
sary, but  frequently  it  has  a  disastrous  effect  on  the  ambition  of  the 
husband.  As  soon  as  he  sees  that  his  wife  can  help  support  the  family, 
his  interest  and  sense  of  responsibility  are  likely  to  lessen,  and  he 
works  irregularly  or  spends  more  on  himself.  There  are,  of  course, 
many  families  in  which  this  united  income  is  needed  when  the  man's 
illness  or  incapacity  makes  it  imperative  for  the  wife  to  help.  Some- 
times it  is  due  to  thrift  and  an  ambition  to  save  money  for  the  future 
or  for  some  definite  purpose.  Charitable  societies  generally  deplore  the 
prevalence  of  this  custom  because  of  its  economic  and  moral  results  on 
the  head  of  the  family." 

Table  XLII.  shows  the  financial  condition  of  the  200 
families  at  the  end  of  the  year. 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY. 


173 


TABLE   XLII. 

Surplus  or  Deficit,  200  Families. 
(More,  p.  108.) 


Total 
Families. 

No.  OP  Families  Eepoeting. 

Average 
SuEPHrs. 

Average 
Deficit. 

Average 
Surplus 
FOE  200 

Families. 

Surplus. 

Deficit. 

Neither 

Surplus 

nor  Deficit. 

200 

47 

55 

98 

§104.37 

.$34.18 

$16.13 

Only  47  families  had  a  surplus  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
leaving  153,  of  whom  55  had  a  deficit  and  98  just  made  ends 
meet. 

Among  the  200  families,  27  were  technically  dependent ; 
that  is,  they  had  received  aid  during  the  year  from  an  organ- 
ized charity.  Concerning  the  difficulty  of  deciding  just  what 
families  were  in  this  class,  Mrs.  More  says  :  — 

"  Almost  every  family  of  small  income  received  some  help  or  other 
from  friends  or  relatives  in  the  shape  of  clothing  for  the  children, 
money  for  the  rent,  or  occasional  gifts  to  carry  the  family  over  a  tight 
place.  In  the  entire  number  investigated  there  were  over  sixty  in- 
stances discovered  of  this  fraternal  helpfulness.  To  each  of  these 
families  personal  friends  or  relatives  had  given  from  $5  to  $150  in 
money  or  clothing.  Frequently,  were  it  not  for  their  friends,  these 
families  would  have  been  obliged  to  go  to  some  organized  charity  for 
aid,  but  as  they  did  not,  they  cannot  properly  be  classed  as  dependents, 
according  to  our  definition  of  dependency.  In  addition  to  gifts  from 
more  prosperous  parents,  relatives,  sons  away  from  home,  and  friends, 
this  assistance  often  came  in  the  form  of  small  legacies,  gifts  from  for- 
mer employers,  Christmas  gifts  from  landlords  and  present  employers, 
allowances  from  sick-benefit  societies,  gifts  to  the  children  from  their 
godparents,  and  so  on.  Assistance  of  this  nature  cannot  be  considered 
as  making  the  recipients  dependent.  All  these  families  did  not  ask  for 
aid,  but  it  was  voluntarily  given  by  a  church,  settlement,  or  district 
worker  who  knew  the  needs  of  the  family."  ^ 

1  "Wage-earners'  Budgets,"  p.  117, 


174  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Omitting  two  families  whose  circumstances  were  excep- 
tional, the  facts  in  regard  to  average  income,  expenditure, 
deficit,  and  aid  given  are  shown  in  Table  XLIII.  for  25 
families. 

The  causes  of  dependency  were  illness  in  6  cases  and 
death  in  6  cases,  drink  a  principal  cause  in  5  and  contributory 
in  5  others,  unemployment  in  3  —  '•  generally  due  to  intem- 
perance." Estimated  by  the  unit-method,^  sickness  and 
death  accounted  for  42  per  cent  and  drink  and  unemployment 
for  40  per  cent  of  all  cases.  In  addition,  the  size  of  the 
family  and  the  fact  that  few  of  the  children  were  of  wage- 
earning  age  was  contributory  in  familes  having  medium 
incomes.  Among  the  36  children  in  the  7  families  having 
incomes  over  $600,  only  5  were  old  enough  to  contribute  to 
the  family  income.  This  is  strikingly  in  agreement  with 
Miss  Brandt's  analysis  of  1527  Charity  Organization 
Society  cases  in  1905.^  The  largest  family  had  also  the 
largest  income  and  the  largest  deficit.  Mrs.  More  says  of 
it:  — 

"  This  family  of  10  is  the  most  completely  pauperized  one  in  the 
study.  Owing  to  a  most  irregular  income  and  a  large  family  under 
14  years  of  age,  with  only  two  wage-earners,  the  father  and  one  son 
(one  or  the  other  of  whom  was  generally  out  of  work),  this  family  re- 
ceived charity  from  whatever  source  it  could  be  obtained.  As  its 
character  was  well  known  to  charitable  societies,  they  gave  relief 
only  in  small  amounts  which  we  have  estimated  at  ^36  a  year.  In 
addition  to  this,  the  woman's  parents  sent  them  $55  and  even  with 
this  outside  aid  the  debts  of  the  butcher,  grocer,  etc.,  amounted  to 
§75.  This  is  a  striking  example  of  a  truly  dependent  family  in 
spite  of  a  fair-sized  income.  The  causes  of  dependency  were  a  large 
family  under  working  age,  lack  of  ambition  and  perseverance  on  the 
part  of  the  father,  which  resulted  in  irregular  and  infrequent  employ- 
ment and  unsteady  income.  The  wife  was  a  good  manager,  but  was 
handicapped  by  such  an  irregular  income."  * 

The   relation   between   dependence  and   income  and   ex- 

1  See  p.  44,  ante.  2  gee  p.  155,  ante. 

8  "  Wage-earners'  Budgets,"  p.  119. 


FACTS  AND  CONDITIONS  OF  POVERTY. 


175 


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176  AMEBIC  An  CBARITIE8. 

penditure  of  dependent  and  independent  families  having  in- 
comes vmder  $600  and  under  $900  is  shown  in  Table  XLIV. 
From  this  comparative  table  Mrs.  More  concludes:  (1) 
in  dependent  families,  the  families  are  larger  and  the 
income  smaller ;  (2)  while  their  expenditures  are  smaller 
for  the  various  purposes  named,  their  deficits  are  larger, 
showing  careful  management  and  justifying  the  receipt  of 
charity ;  (3)  the  averages  of  the  expenditures  of  the  23  so- 
called  independent  poor  families  having  incomes  under 
$  600  (11  of  whom  had  received  aid  from  friends  and 
relatives)  represents  a  fair  average  minimum  expenditure 
for  existence  in  New  York  City  without  receiving  charity 
aid.     But,  she  adds  :  — 

"  The  writer  does  not  consider  these  expenditures  sufficient  to  main- 
tain physical  efficiency  with  the  present  cost  of  living  in  this  city,  for 
each  one  of  these  families  suffered  moral  and  physical  deterioration, 
and  some  of  them  are  in  a  state  of  disintegration  which  must  prove 
fatal  to  the  family  group  unless  conditions  change  and  a  larger  and 
steadier  income  is  possible  in  the  immediate  future.  The  average 
size  of  these  families  was  4.1.  Families  of  2  or  3  with  wonderful 
management  might  live  on  this  income  without  going  to  pieces,  but 
it  does  not  seem  possible  for  families  of  4  or  over.  How  much 
worse  is  the  condition  of  the  dependent  families  in  this  group.  Even 
with  the  help  i-eceived,  they  tried  to  support  an  average  family  of  5.6 
on  an  average  income  of  8439.52.  Their  expenditures  for  the 
necessaries  of  life  fell  below  the  normal  standard  of  other  poor  families, 
and  even  then  they  were  burdened  with  a  deficit  of  §16.53.  The 
statistics  of  dependent  families  and  of  all  those  having  incomes  of  less 
than  §600  a  year  show  how  inadequate  such  incomes  are  to  support 
families  of  average  size  without  assistance  or  without  indebtedness."  ^ 

The  third  study,  also  of  conditions  in  Kew  York  City, 
made  by  the  Committee  on  Standard  of  Living  of  the  State 
Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections  in  1907,  covers  a 
larger  number  of  families  than  Mrs.  More's.  It  was  made, 
however,   by   interviewers   among   scattered   families,   and 

1  "Wage-earners'  Budgets,"  p.  124. 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY. 


177 


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178  AMERICAN   CRABITIES. 

lacks,  on  the  one  hand,  the  breadth  of  view  of  the  Bureau 
of  Labor  inquiry  and,  on  the  other,  the  intimate  personal 
knowledge  shown  in  Mrs.  More's  investigation.  The  pre- 
liminary report  —  which  is  all  that  is  yet  available  —  is  of 
distinct  value,  nevertheless,  and  is  in  several  important 
points  directly  comparable  with  the  others.  The  Committee 
states  that  very  early  in  the  inquiry  it  was  decided  to  limit 
the  schedules  to  a  family  of  five  persons —  "husband,  wife, 
and  three  children  under  working  age  "  —  with  an  income 
over  $600  and  under  flOOO.  The  schedules  showing  in- 
comes from  $300  to  $600  were  thrown  out  because  they 
indicated  that  these  families  had  an  exceptionally  low 
standard  of  living  and  were  not  independent  of  outside 
assistance.  Table  XLV.  summarizes  tlie  results  for  230 
"  normal  "  families  in  Greater  New  York. 

Group  I.,  having  the  lowest  income  and  a  deficit,  ex- 
pended 22^  cents  per  day  per  man  for  food  and  $13  per 
month  for  rent.  For  this  they  can  obtain  in  Manhattan 
from  2  to  3  rooms,  —  "  low  and  comparatively  small  and  one 
room  with  no  window  to  the  outer  air  or  none  at  all,"  — 
without  bathing  or  toilet  facilities.  They  spend  $91  a 
year  for  clothing  and  washing  materials,  and  one-third  of 
them  received  gifts  of  clothing  from  relatives,  churches,  or 
charities  — "  if  more  clothing  is  desired,  it  must  be  pur- 
chased on  the  instalment  plan  or  by  cutting  down  the 
other  important   items  in   the   budget,  particularly  food." 

Only  $11  is  expended  for  sickness,  and  if  illness  lasts 
any  length  of  time  the  family  runs  into  debt ;  $5  for 
education,  —  chiefly  the  daily  newspaper,  —  50  cents  to  $1 
for  postage  and  school  supplies,  nothing  for  books.  When- 
ever there  are  any  savings  at  all,  it  is  due  to  exceptionally 
favorable  conditions.  The  conclusion  of  the  Committee  as 
to  this  group  may  be  stated  in  its  own  words  :  — 

"The  Committee  is  of  the  opinion  that  an  income  between 
1 600-700  per  annum  is  insufficient  for  a  family  of  five  to  maintain  a 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY. 


179 


.  TABLE  XLV. 
Cost  of  Living  of  230  Families  in  Greater  New  York.*     (1907.) 


Five  Persons  in 

Family  —  Hus- 
band, Wife,  3 
Children  under 

Group  I. 
$600  -  $700. 

Group  II. 

$700 -$800. 

Group  III. 
$800  -  $900. 

14  Tears  of  Age. 

Average  income 

$650.00 

$746.00 

$845.00 

No.  of  families 

76 

83 

71 

Expenditure  for 

Amount 
Expended. 

Per 

Cent. 

Amount 
Expended. 

Per 

Cent. 

Amount 
Expended. 

Per 
Cent. 

Food  .... 

$288.00 

43.9 

$342.00 

45.8 

$367.00 

45.4 

Rent  .... 

154.00 

23.5 

156.00 

20.9 

167.00 

20.7 

Clothing      .     . 

91.00 

13.9 

102.00 

13.6 

112.00 

13.8 

Liglit  and  Fuel 

35.00 

5.8 

37.00 

4.9 

39.00 

4.8 

Insurance    .     . 

18.00 

2.7 

19.00 

2.5 

19.00 

2.5 

Sundries .     .     . 

70.00 

10.7 

90.00 

.12.0 

103.00 

12.7 

Total  Expended 

$666.00 

100.0 

$746.00 

100.0 

6807.00 

100.0 

Deficit  or  Sur- 

plus  .     .     . 

-6. 

± 

+  38. 

*  Preliminary  Report,  p.  12. 

proper  standard  of  living  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan.  Leaving  aside 
the  exceptions,  it  is  apparent  that  on  an  income  of  $600-700  many- 
families  in  Manhattan  have  a  fierce  struggle  for  existence.  The  maxi- 
mum of  food  purchases  approximates  the  minimum  set  up  by  authorities 
on  this  subject.  The  narrowest  marghi  is  allowed  for  other  essentials. 
No  provision  can  be  made  for  accident  or  emergency.  If  either  of 
these  occur,  the  family  runs  into  debt.  Were  it  not  for  the  charity  of 
friends,  relatives,  employers,  or  philanthropic  organizations,  the  ex- 
penditure of  the  family  would  be,  and  frequently  is,  larger  than  the 
income. 

' '  Such  a  family  literally  lives  a  band-to-mouth  existence,  with  neither 
opportunity  nor  means  for  enjoyment  or  recreation.  It  can  make  no 
provision  for  repairs  to  equipment.    The  health  of  its  members  cannot 


180  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

be  safe-guarded  from  its  own  resources.  The  housing  accommodations 
barely  prevent  crowding.  It  requires  no  citation  of  elaborate  statistics 
to  bring  convincing  proof  that  §G00-§700  is  wholly  inadequate  to 
maintain  a  proper  standard  of  living,  and  no  self-respecting  family 
should  be  asked  or  expected  to  live  on  such  an  income.''''  ^ 

Without  discussing  the  situation  of  Group  II.  and  Group 
III.  in  detail,  we  may  quote  the  Committee's  conclusions  :  ^ 


"Group  II. —  The  Committee  believes  that  with  an  income  of  • 
$800  a  family  can  barely  support  itself,  provided  that  it  is  subject  to 
no  extraordinary  expenditures  by  reason  of  sickness,  death,  or  otlier 
untoward  circumstances.  Such  a  family  can  live  without  charitable 
assistance  through  exceptional  management  and  in  the  absence  of 
emergencies. 

"  Group  III,  —  In  view  of  all  these  facts,  the  Committee  is  of  the 
opinion  that  it  is  fairly  conservative  in  its  estimate  that  $825  is 
sufficient  for  the  average  family  of  5  individuals,  comprising  the 
father,  mother,  and  3  children  under  14  years  of  age  to  maintain  a 
fairly  proper  standard  of  living  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan.  The 
extent  to  which  this  would  be  changed  in  other  boroughs  of  Greater 
New  York  would  be  measured  largely  by  the  item  of  rent  and  not  by 
the  other  items  in  the  budget." 

In  Table  XL VI.  the  results, of  the  three  American  investi- 
gations are  summarized  for  the  class  whose  incomes  ranged 
from  $800  to  $900.  This  is  the  group  called  "representative" 
by  Mrs.  More,  and  whose  income  is  believed  by  the  Special 
Committee  to  be  sufficient  to  maintain  a  "fairly  proper" 
standard  of  living  in  New  York  City. 

The  uniformity  of  the  three  studies  on  almost  every  item 
of  expenditure  is  remarkable ;  for  the  food  of  5  to  5.6  persons 
the  expenditure  was  $326-f  367 ;  that  is,  from  42  to  45  per 
cent  of  the  total  income.  The  outlay  for  rent  was  $162  to 
$167  in  New  York,  —  about  20  percent  of  income,  —  but 
from  $99  to  $131,  or  only  13  to  16  per  cent  of  income,  in  the 
United  States  at  large.  Clothing  ranged  from  $88  to  $112 
for  a  family,  that  is,  from  10  to  14  per  cent  of  income ;  fuel 

I  Preliminary  Report,  pp.  17-18.  2  Preliminary  Report,  p.  20. 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY.         181 


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182  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

and  light  scarcely  varied  from  5  per  cent.  Insurance  and 
sundries  together  ranged  from  $122  (family  of  5  only)  to 
$179  and  $198  in  groups  with  slightly  larger  families.  In 
the  230  New  York  families  whose  insurance  and  sundries 
amounted  to  only  $122,  it  will  be  noticed  that  there  is  a 
correspondingly  higher  expenditure  for  clothing  and  food. 
Aside  from  this  slight  variation,  there  is  no  other  which  is 
not  explained  by  the  higher  cost  of  living  in  New  York 
City. 

In  Table  XLVII.  the  results  of  the  three  inquiries  are 
summarized  by  incomes.  It  must  be  remembered  that  Mrs. 
More's  families  averaged  5.6  persons,  while  the  others  are 
the  "  normal "  families  of  2  adults  and  3  children  under 
14  years  of  age. 

The  summary  table  shows  that  with  incomes  less  than 
$600  from  two-thirds  to  three-fourths  of  the  total  must  be 
spent  for  food  and  rent  alone,  and  this  means,  according  to 
the  New  York  observers,  that  these  families  are  underfed, 
poorly  clothed,  and  wretchedly  housed,  if  they  succeed  in 
remaining  independent ;  or  that  they  must  receive  assist- 
ance from  their  friends  and  intermittently  from  charitable 
societies.  The  second  group,  having  incomes  from  $600  to 
$900,  spent  41  to  45  per  cent  for  food  and  17  to  23  per 
cent  for  rent ;  the  bare  necessities  of  life  —  food,  shelter, 
clothing,  warmth,  and  light  —  took  80  to  85  per  cent  of  the 
entire  income.  If  these  remain  independent,  it  can  only  be 
through  escaping  all  emergency  demands,  doing  without  all 
comforts  and  pleasures,  and  having  no  savings,  —  in  short 
they  are  constantly  on  the  verge  of  dependence.  .  Until  the 
grade  of  $800  to  $900  is  reached,  there  is  no  margin  left  for 
thrift,  education,  and  pleasure,  and  even  then  the  margin 
will  be  small  unless  the  income  is  very  carefully  expended. 
From  these  studies,  the  principle  may  be  tentatively  es- 
tablished that  whenever  the  expenditures  for  the  bare 
necessities  of  life  —  food,  housing,  clothing,  light  and  fuel  — 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY. 


183 


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184  AMERICAN  CHARITIES, 

take  more  than  80  per  cent  of  the  income,  the  family  is  on 
the  verge  of  dependence. 

What,  then,  is  an  adequate  income  for  a  family  of  five  ? 
The  Special  Committee  concluded  that  $600  to  f  700  was  to- 
tally inadequate,  $700  to  $800  a  bare  minimum  efficiency  in- 
come, and  $825  per  year  just  sufficient.  The  report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Labor  showed  that  of  25,440  families  of 
five  persons,  having  an  average  income  of  $749.50,  one-half 
had  a  deficit  or  just  came  out  even ;  and  of  2567  selected 
families  of  5.3  persons  and  $827.00  average  income,  1089 
either  had  a  deficit  or  just  came  out  even.  Mrs.  More  con- 
cludes that  a  well-nourished  family  of  five  in  a  city  neigh- 
borhood needs  $6.00  a  week  for  food.  The  total  necessary 
expenditure  on  this  scale  would  be  $720.00,  that  is,  a  steady 
income  of  $14.00  per  week,  and  if  there  were  to  be  any 
savings  the  income  should  be  $800  to  $900  per  year. 

Just  preceding  the  New  York  investigations,  a  number  of 
estimates  of  a  "  fair-living  wage "  were  made  by  different 
authorities :  Robert  Hunter,  in  1904,  set  $460  as  the  mini- 
mum "  physical  efficiency  "  wage ;  the  New  York  Bureau 
of  Labor  set  the  living  wage  at  $520 ;  John  Mitchell,  ex- 
president  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  and 
Father  John  A.  Ryan,  the  author  of  ''  A  Living  Wage,"  at 
$600;  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Labor  at  $724  for  a 
family  of  five ;  the  Maryland  Bureau  of  Statistics  $742  for 
a  family  of  six  in  Baltimore  ;  and  Miss  Caroline  Goodyear 
at  $1054  for  a  family  of  five  in  New  York.  The  significant 
thing  is  that  in  proportion  as  accurate  detailed  information 
of  the  actual  conditions  of  the  poor  is  obtained  the  estimate 
of  an  adequate  living  income  is  steadily  rising. 

The  primary  factors  in  the  cost  of  living  are  food  and 
rent.  Food  is  the  elementary  necessity,  and  the  question 
of  adequate  income  is  primarily  determined  by  the  amount 
and  cost  of  food  required  for  proper  nutrition.  Not  only  the 
wage-earner's  fitness  for  work,  but  the  mother's  fitness  for 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY.         185 

child-bearing  and  the  children's  growth  and  fitness  for 
future  wage-earning  depend  upon  their  being  sufficiently 
•  fed.  The  item  of  food  will  be  the  first  affected  by  any 
necessity  for  reducing  expenses.  On  the  subject  of  what  is 
an  adequate  dietary  standard  there  are  many  studies,  but  it 
is  possible  to  mention  here  only  the  conclusions  of  those 
which  refer  to  workingmen's  families  in  Xew  York  City. 
Professor  W.  0.  Atwater  concluded  from  his  dietary  studies 
in  New  York  in  1896  that  a  family  could  be  sufficiently  fed 
on  15  to  17  cents  per  man  per  day.^  But  this  was  in  the 
year  of  lowest  prices,  and  allowing  16  per  cent  for  the  rise 
in  the  general  cost  of  living  since  then,  the  estimate  should 
be  not  less  than  17.5  to  20  cents.  Measured  by  this  standard, 
Mrs.  More's  200  New  York  families  spent  24.6  cents  per 
man  per  day.  "  Assuming  that  Mr.  Atwater's  estimate  is 
correct,"  Mrs.  More  says,  "they  were  therefore  extravagant 
through  ignorance  of  dietary  values  and  the  nourishing  quali- 
ties of  different  foods." 

Miss  Caroline  Goodyear,  in  order  to  determine  what  is 
the  minimum  income  which  is  sufficient  for  all  the  reason- 
able needs  of  dependent  families  in  the  care  of  the  Kew 
York  Charity  Organization  Society,  made  a  study  of  the 
dietary  habits  of  tenement-house  families.  In  the  typical 
case  of  dependence  —  a  widow  with  three  children  —  she 
concludes  that  an  adequate  supply  of  food  would  cost  per 
week  $1.54,  and  that  the  presence  of  a  workingraau  in  the 
family  would  raise  this  estimate  to  $6.00  or  $6.50.^  This 
agrees  with  Mrs.  More's  estimate. 

Shelter,  unlike  food  and  clothing,  does  not  depend  on  the 
individual  efforts  of  the  family,  but  chiefly  on  the  available 
tenements.  Society  may  be  said  to  have  established  the 
principle  of  a  minimum  standard  of  housing,  although  the 

1  Bulletin  No.  46,  Department  of  Agriculture,  "Dietary  Studies  in 
New  York,"  1896. 

2  "  Charities,"  etc.,  vol.  xvi.,  1906,  pp.  191  ff. ;  vol.  xvii.,  1906,  pp.  315  S. 


186  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

standard  is  nowhere  strictly  enforced.^  According  to  the  ac- 
cepted definition  of  overcrowding  —  more  than  two  per- 
sons in  a  room  —  only  thirty-seven  out  of  the  two  hundred 
New  York  families  were  overcrowded ;  yet  the  description 
of  their  homes  given  by  Mrs.  More  shows  that  a  much  larger 
number  were  wretchedly  housed.  The  New  York  Tene- 
ment-house Commission  in  its  report  for  1900  named  the 
most  serious  evils  in  New  York  City  :  insufficient  light  and 
air,  danger  from  fire,  lack  of  separate  toilet  and"  washing 
facilities,  overcrowding,  and  generally  foul  and  unsanitary 
conditions.  As  a  result  of  this  report,  a  Tenement-house 
Department  was  created  for  the  city  of  New  York,  which 
has  accomplished  important  reforms.  Although  in  most  of 
the  other  cities  in  the  United  States  there  is  no  such  tene- 
ment-house problem,yet  the  high  death-rates — ^especially 
those  of  tuberculosis  —  indicate  that  unsanitary  conditions 
of  the  most  serious  nature  exist  in  them.^ 

The  relation  of  overcrowding  and  unsanitary  conditions 
to  poverty  is  close  and  unmistakable.  Charles  Booth  has 
shown  that  30  per  cent  of  the  population  of  East  London 
was  in  poverty,  31  per  cent  overcrowded,  and  that  both 
the  birth-rate  and  the  death-rate  were  high  in  proportion 
to  poverty  and  congestion.  Overcrowding  leads  to  early 
marriage  and  a  high  birth-rate  ;  while  unsanitary  conditions 
and  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  young  mother  create  a  high 
death-rate  among  babies  and  young  children.  "  All  the  in- 
fluences (except  the  death-rate)  on  natural  increase," 
says  Mr.  Booth,  "  have  the  effect  of  multiplying  the  number 
of  the  poor  almost,  it  would  seem,  in  proportion  to  their 
poverty,  and  operate  in  the  other  direction  in  the  case  of 
those  who  are  better  off,  almost  in  proportion  to  their 
wealth."^  The  net  increase  of  the  very  poor,  owing  to 
their  high  death-rate,  may  be  no  greater  than  that  of  the 

1  Deviiie,  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  Chap.  V. 

2  See  Bibliography  for  the  study  of  housing,  p.  480.    3  Final  volume,  p.  23. 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY.         187 

comfortable  working  class,  but  the  waste  of  life  is  terrible. 
If  to  the  cost  of  illness  and  death  be  added  the  expendi- 
ture of  energy  in  child-bearing  and  the  withdrawal  of  the 
mother  from  wage-earning,  the  mere  economic  loss  involved 
in  these  conditions  is  incalculable. 

The  welfare  of  the  family  depends  on  the  physical  and 
moral  quality  of  the  parents.  Among  the  poor  there  is  a 
very  clear  understanding  of  their  relative  duties.  The  man. 
must  find  the  major  part  of  the  income ;  and  if  he  is 
"  respectable,"  he  will  take  pride  in  bringing  it  home  and 
giving  all  but  a  very  small  portion  of  it  to  the  wife.  If  he 
is  an  unskilled  laborer  he  will,  as  a  rule,  be  inadequately 
paid  and  irregularly  employed ;  if  poorly  paid  and  inter- 
mittently employed,  he  tends  to  become  discouraged  and  to 
fall  into  shiftless  if  not  vicious  habits.  Concerning  em- 
ployment in  her  two  hundred  families  Mrs.  More  says  :  — 

"  Employment  was  so  irregular  during  these  two  years  that  wages 
could  scarcely  ever  be  relied  upon  for  the  entire  year.  Often  a  man 
worked  only  two  or  three  daj's  in  a  week,  during  the  months  of  the 
slack  season,  and  then  for  some  weeks  during  the  rush  season  made 
a  great  deal  working  overtime.  In  estimating  the  total  income, 
allowance  has  been  made  for  these  exceptions.  It  was  interesting  to 
find  that  many  men  had  two  occupations,  summer  and  winter ;  for 
example,  oysterman  and  tentmaker,  .  .  .  carpenter  and  longshoreman, 
etc.  Wages  in  certain  occupations  rarely  rise  above  a  certain  point. 
One  man  had  been  truckman  for  one  firm  for  thirty-two  years  and  his 
wages  are  now  only  $14  per  week.  This  is  true  in  practically  all 
unskilled  occupations."  ^ 

Under  such  circumstances  the  wife  must  supplement  the 
income  until  one  or  more  children  become  of  working  age, 
and  in  proportion  as  the  wife  and  children  eke  out  the  in- 
come the  man  is  liable  to  become  less  energetic  or  to  bring 
less  of  his  wages  home.  If  the  family  gets  to  the  point  of 
asking  charitable  aid,  it  will  often  be  found  that  the  man 
will  not  stand  the  test  of  work  when  it  is  provided.  A 
1  "Wage-earners'  Budgets,"  p.  135. 


188 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


crude  measure  of  the  degree  of  poverty  is  the  amount  of 
rough  work  done  by  mothers  outside  the  home  and  by  chil- 
dren under  sixteen  years  of  age. 

The  woman's  share  is,  everywhere  among  the  poor,  the 
financial  management.  What  the  family  gets  out  of  the 
income  depends  almost  wholly  upon  her  intelligence.  If 
she  goes  from  a  factory,  store,  or  office  to  her  new  home,  she 
has  usually  had  no  domestic  training.  She  will  make  mis- 
takes of  ignorance  and  extravagance,  but  if  conscientious, 
she  will  frequently  manage  wonderfully  well,  when  necessity 
has  given  her  some  training.^  There  is  often  no  margin  for 
thrift,  as  all  the  observers  have  pointed  out,  but  at  the  same 
time  good  management  goes  far  toward  making  adequate 
an  insufficient  income.  Yet  at  what  personal  sacrifice  of 
strength  and  health  this  economy  of  the  insufficient  is 
attained  can  scarcely  be  measured.  The  mother  seldom 
goes  even  to  a  free  hospital  for  confinement,  though  she 
may  have  a  free  physician,  and  she  is  nursed  by  a  midwife 
who  is  willing  to  be  paid  in  instalments. 

A  considerable  number  of  families  in  any  congested  dis- 
trict in  American  cities  are  liable  to  fall  into  extreme  pov- 
erty two  or  three  times  in  their  lives  :  during  childhood,  — 
if  the  parents  are  very  poor,  —  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  in 
old  age.  Mr.  Rowntree  has  expressed  this  fact  for  the  city 
of  York  in  the  following:  diairram:^  — 


Marries 


Children  begin 
to  earn 


Primarvi 


AJ( 


Povi  111 


OJIdren  manij 
ond  leave  home 

^ — ^^J^borer  ps5l  wDrK 


\0       16       20       '25       30       36       40       45 


65       60       63       70 

1  "  Wage-earners'  Budgets,"  p.  265. 

2  "  Poverty."    A  Study  of  Town  Life,  p.  13. 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS  OF  POVERTY.         189 

The  first  drop  below  the  poverty  line  is  apt  to  occur  just 
before  the  eldest  children  become  of  earning  age,  and  while 
the  mother  is  bearing  other  children.  If  the  husband  is 
underpaid  or  unemployed  the  family  will  be  underfed,  — the 
mother  at  the  time  when  she  needs  good  food  and  freedom 
from  worry,  the  children  at  the  time  when  their  growth  will 
suffer  most.  If  the  wife  goes  to  work  outside  in  order  to 
raise  the  income,  she  injures  her  health  under  the  double 
strain  of  wage-earning  and  child-bearing.  The  older  chil- 
dren will  go  to  work  at  the  earliest  possible  age,  and  if  not 
stunted  by  it,  will  lose  the  opportunities  for  education  which 
might  carry  them  into  a  higher  industrial  class.  From  the 
time  when  the  children  begin  to  earn  till  they  marry  the 
family  will  be  relatively  comfortable  ;  but  shortly  after 
they  leave  home,  the  father  and  mother  begin  to  lose  their 
efficiency  through  the  premature  old  age  which  falls  upon 
those  who  are  overworked  or  underfed,  and  that  at  a  time 
when  the  married  children,  with  their  own  family  burdens, 
are  least  able  to  help  them. 

One  of  the  effects  upon  growing  children  of  the  life  amid 
such  vicissitudes  is  well  described  by  Miss  Lauderburn, 
District  Agent  of  the  Associated  Charities  of  Boston,  in  dis- 
cussing incompetence  as  a  cause  of  poverty.     She  says :  — 

"  The  fault  is  not  all  due  to  the  incompetents.  To  a  great  extent 
it  is  due  to  environment.  And  it  is,  perhaps,  due  also  to  the  very- 
organization  of  society.  A  child  with  a  poorly  nourished  body,  with 
a  bringing  up  lacking  in  ideals,  set  in  an  environment  of  poverty,  dirt, 
drunkenness,  compelled  to  leave  the  education  of  the  schools  and  go 
to  work  when  he  has  reached  the  mature  age  of  fourteen  —  should  a 
society  that  permits  that  be  surprised  if  the  boy  turns  out  an  incom- 
petent? Surely,  it  is  not  surprising  if  that  boy  does  not  know  how  to 
work  well,  how  to  save,  how  to  spend,  but  stumbles  along  through 
life,  seeing  only  the  thing  (whether  good  or  bad)  nearest  his  eyes, 
and  not  seeing  that  very  clearly  —  incompetent,  physically,  mentally, 
morally,  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  this  world,  and  wage  successfully 
the  battle  of  life."  i 

1  Twenty-fifth  Annual  Report  Associated  Charities,  Boston,  1904, 
pp.  24-25. 


190  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

The  physical  and  mental  deterioration,  inevitable  in  the 
lower  grades  of  poverty,  is  indicated  not  only  by  the  death- 
rate,  especially  infant  mortality,  but  also  by  the  marked 
inferiority  of  the  children  in  height,  weight,  and  general 
physical  condition.  Dr.  Kuborn,  in  discussing  the  maladies 
of  English  miners,  says  that  they  originate  largely  in  the 
kind  of  life  the  men  lead,  their  neglect  of  hygiene  in  their 
homes  and  person,  excesses  of  various  kinds,  inadequate 
clothing  and  feeding,  —  "  causes  to  which  the  want  of  edu- 
cation greatly  contributes."  ^  Moreover,  the  evils  of  poverty 
are  cumulative :  — 

"  The  worse  fed  are  the  children  of  one  genei'ation,  the  less  they 
will  earn  when  they  grow  up,  and  the  less  will  be  their  power  of 
providing  adequately  for  the  material  wants  of  their  children  ;  and, 
again,  the  less  fully  their  own  faculties  are  developed,  the  less  will 
they  realize  the  importance  of  developing  the  faculties  of  their  children 
and  the  less  will  be  their  power  of  doing  so.  .  .  .  The  importance  of 
a  good  start  in  life  is  nowhere  seen  more  clearly  than  in  a  comparison 
of  the  futures  of  the  sons  of  artisans  and  of  unskilled  workers."  2 

Nor  are  the  effects  of  the  moral  conditions  of  poverty 
confined  to  the  poorest  class.  In  all  these  recent  pictures 
of  poverty,  frequent  reference  is  made  to  the  generosity  and 
mutual  helpfulness  of  the  poor.  The  weakness  and  misfor- 
tune of  the  poorest  continually  drains  the  resources  of  their 
more  competent  and  prosperous  neighbors.  If  the  rent  can- 
not be  paid,  the  family  will  be  taken  in  by  their  friends  or 
relatives,  who  have  little  enough  room  already ;  and  the  rent 
will  remain  unpaid  to  the  loss,  not  of  the  landlord  usually, 
but  of  the  sub-lessee,  who  is  also  poor.  The  competition 
of  the  least  competent  is  the  most  injurious  in  the  labor 
market,  and  their  lower  standards  of  decency  a  menace 
to  the  self-respecting  poor.  Thus  the  cost  of  the  residuum 
of  poverty  is  not  merely  the  tax  on  public  and  private^ 

1  Oliver,  "  Dangerous  Trades,"  p.  17. 

2  Marshall,  "Principles  of  Economics,"  vol.  i.,  p.  595. 


FACTS  AND   CONDITIONS   OF  POVERTY.         191 

charity,  but  the  tax  upon  the  wage-earners  of  the  higher 
stratum.^ 

At  the  beginning  of  the  study  of  the  causes  of  poverty 
the  personal  causes,  as  we  have  seen,  were  chiefly  empha- 
sized. As  relief  became  systematized  and  the  case-count- 
ing method  of  study  was  adopted,  the  causes  which  stood 
out  most  conspicuously  in  a  definite  proportion  were  sick- 
ness, unemployment,  defects  of  character,  and  lack  of 
normal  support.  And  finally  in  the  pictorial  studies  of  pov- 
erty we  find  that  the  chief  causes  of  dependency  are  illness 
and  death  of  the  chief  wage-earner,  irregularity  of  work 
due  to  industrial  conditions  or  drink  and  incapacity,  low 
wages,  and  large  families  on  small  incomes  with  few  chil- 
dren of  wage-earning  age.  In  so  far  as  the  immediate 
causes  are  concerned  the  results  of  the  descriptive  method 
are  not  fundamentally  different  from  those  of  case-counting, 
but  its  value  lies  in  that  it  goes  farther  and  deeper.  The 
intensive  study  shows  the  associated  conditions  of  poverty 
and  raises  the  larger  questions  :  To  what  extent  has  society 
a  right  to  reap  the  benefit  of  methods  of  production,  and 
of  a  scale  of  wages  which  involve  the  inevitable  degradation 
of  a  section  of  the  population  ?  How  far  should  human  char- 
acter be  expected  to  withstand  the  corrosion  of  hardships 
and  discouragement?  Has  not  society  the  charitable  bur- 
den which  it  deserves  ? 

Setting  aside  the  fundamental  economic  and  industrial 
questions  with  which,  however  vital,  this  chapter  is  not 
concerned,  the  study  of  the  causes  of  poverty  has  arrived  at 
the  immediate  problem  of  the  determination  of  the  standard 
of  living  for  the  localities  in  which  relief  is  to  be  given. 
Philanthropic  workers  are  generally  agreed  that  a  living 
income  must  include  not  merely  the  necessaries  of  life  for 
maintaining  physical  efficiency,  but  something  for  sickness, 

1  Bosanquet,  "Aspects  of  the  Social  Problem,"  p.  97;  Booth,  final 
volume,  pp.  206-209. 


192  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

for  pleasure,  and  for  emergencies  and  savings.  What  this 
amount  will  be  in  a  given  communit}'  will  depend  not  only 
on  the  cost  of  necessities,  but  upon  the  intelligence  and 
ideals  of  the  family  itself.  The  standard  of  living  must  be 
established  not  on  the  low  plane  of  life  to  which  the  family 
has  been  driven  by  stress  of  circumstances,  but  on  a  level  of 
physical  and  social  efficiency  for  the  present  and  the  future. 
If  such  an  ideal  as  this  be  set,  it  is  evident  that  the  charity 
standard  of  adequate  relief  must  be  considerably  raised. 
Niggardly  and  superficial  relief  may  save  from  desperate 
misery  those  who  have  already  fallen  below  the  line,  but  it 
can  never  prevent  the  helpless  young  from  being  drawn  into 
the  chasm  after  them.  The  larger  charity  goes  farther  than 
relief,  and  finds  its  consummation  in  the  abolition  of  the 
causes  of  poverty  and  ultimately,  we  hope,  of  poverty  itself. 
Professor  Simon  N.  Patten  has  expressed  that  hope  in  a 
prophecy :  — 

"  Our  children's  children  may  learn  with  amazement  how  we 
thought  it  a  natural  social  phenomenon  that  men  should  die  in  their 
prime,  leaving  wives  and  children  in  terror  of  want ;  that  accidents 
should  make  an  army  of  maimed  dependents  ;  that  there  should  not  be 
enough  houses  for  workers ;  and  that  epidemics  should  sweep  away 
multitudes  as  autumn  frost  sweeps  away  summer  insects.  They  will 
wonder  that  the  universal  sadness  of  such  a  world  should  have  appealed 
to  our  transient  sympathies,  but  did  not  absorb  our  widest  interests. 
They  will  ask  why  there  was  some  hope  of  succor  for  those  whose 
miseries  passed  for  a  moment  before  the  eyes  of  the  tender-hearted, 
but  none  for  the  dwellers  beyond  the  narrow  horizon  within  which 
pity  moves.  And  they  will  be  unable  to  put  themselves  in  our  places, 
because  the  new  social  philosophy,  which  we  are  this  moment  framing, 
will  have  so  moulded  their  minds  that  they  cannot  return  to  the  phi- 
losophy that  moulds  ours." 


PART    II. 
THE   DEPENDENT  CLASSES. 


PAET  11. 

THE    DEPENDENT    CLASSES. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
THE    ALMSHOUSE    AND    ITS    INMATES. 

The  almshouse  is  the  fundamental  institution  in  Amer- 
ican poor-relief.  It  cares  for  all  the  abjectly  destitute  not 
otherwise  provided  for.  Outdoor  relief,  although  preced- 
ing it  in  point  of  time,  is  the  resort  of  those  who  still,  nomi- 
nally at  least,  need  only  temporary  assistance  or  partial 
support  at  home.^  Since  the  almshouse  is  the  guarantee 
against  starvation  which  the  State  offers  tor  all,  no  matter 
how  unfortunate  or  degraded,  its  inmates  are  often  the  most 
sodden  driftwood  from  the  social  wreckage  of  the  time.  It 
is  ordinarily  a  depressing  experience  to  visit  an  almshouse, 
and  accordingly  we  find  it  an  institution  that  even  the  be- 
nevolent willingly  forget.  In  many  of  the  country  alms- 
houses no  clergyman  comes  the  year  round ;  and  no  friendly 
visitor  appears  to  encourage  the  superintendent  to  be  faith- 
ful, or  to  bring  to  light  abuses  that  may  exist.  Yet,  since 
the  institution  is  so  fundamental,  and  since  the  number  of 
its  inmates  is  necessarily  considerable,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  a  more  profitable  work  can  easily  be  found  than 
the  right  organization  and  proper  management  of  alms- 
houses. The  benevolent  too  frequently  hurry  away  to  make 
excellent  provision  for  special  classes,  leaving  to  the  malad- 

1  For  slightly  different  view  see  Devine,  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  p.  282. 

195 


196  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

ministration  of  the  local  almshouse  a  large  assortment  of 
destitute  people  under  evil  conditions.^ 

In  New  England,  except  ISTew  Hampshire,  where  there 
are  both  county  and  town  institutions,  the  town  (township) 
is  the  local  political  unit  to  which  the  care  of  the  poor  is 
intrusted,  and  the  almshouse  is  accordingly  managed  by  the 
town  officers.  In  the  other  States  the  almshouse  is  usually  a 
county  institution.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  several  town- 
ships or  counties  to  form  themselves  into  an  association,  and 
establish  what  is  called  a  district  almshouse. 

The  tendency  since  1890,  especially  in  States  where  the 
town  system  of  control  prevails,  is  more  toward  the  consoli- 
dation of  small  almshouses  than  toward  the  building  of  new 
ones.  Of  the  2373  almshouses  enumerated  at  that  time,  200 
have  since  been  discontinued,  while  the  actual  growth  of 
such  institutions  has  been  slight.^ 

In  1880  there  were  66,203  inmates  of  almshouses  in  the 
United  States,  or  one  almshouse  pauper  to  758  inhabitants ; 
in  1890  there  were  73,015  almshouse  inmates,  or  one  to  857 
inhabitants ;  in  1903  there  were  81,764  almshouse  inmates, 
or  one  to  920  inhabitants.  The  decrease  in  proportion  to 
population  does  not  necessarily  indicate  a  general  diminution 
of  pauperism,  but  merely  that  a  historical  development,  al- 
ready in  progress,  has  been  continued.^     "When  the  work 

1  Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  avoid  the  stigma  attaching  to  the 
almshouse  by  changing  its  name.  "  Almshouse  "  itself,  although  thought 
to  be  a  better  term  than  "  poorhouse  "  or  the  English  "  workhouse,"  has 
in  its  turn  degenerated,  so  that  in  many  States  the  term  "  County  In- 
firmary," or  "County  Home,"  is  substituted.  But  until  the  disre- 
putable classes  are  drafted  out  of  it,  to  call  it  a  "home  "  or  "retreat" 
will  no  more  remove  the  disgrace  of  inmateship  than  it  will  remove  the 
"institution  smell"  from  the  suds-soaked  floors  of  the  building.  The 
"  stigma,"  whatever  it  may  be,  comes  primarily  from  the  average  char- 
acter of  the  inmates,  and  secondarily  from  the  low-grade  character  and 
want  of  skill  of  the  officers  in  charge. 

2  Census,  "  Paupers  in  Almshouses,"  1904. 

8  For  fuller  historical  account  of  this  movement  see  Deviue,  "  Principles 
of  Relief,"  Chap.  II. 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  197 

of  relief  is  first  begun  by  the  newly  formed  political  units 
of  an  American  settlement,  it  is  usual  to  board,  out  such 
dependents  as  must  be  supported  entirely.  Farmers  or 
others  are  paid  to  care  for  old  people,  for  imbeciles,  and  even 
for  sick  persons  who  have  no  homes  of  their  own.  Chiefly 
with  a  view  to  providing  a  place  for  the  better  care  of  the 
dependent  sick,  especially  incurable  cases,  and  also  to 
economy,  a  public  almshouse  is  established.  During  the 
first  stage  of  its  development,  it  acts  as  the  charitable  catch- 
all for  the  community.  Idiots,  epileptics,  incurables,  incom- 
petents, the  aged,  abandoned  children,  foundlings,  women 
for  confinement,  and  a  considerable  number  of  the  insane, 
the  blind,  and  the  deaf  and  dumb  are  all  dumped  together 
into  some  old  farmhouse  that  has  been  bought  by  the  authori- 
ties, and  put  to  this  use.  The  public  then  goes  on  its  way, 
and  thinks  as  little  about  the  institution  as  possible,  only 
grumbling  annually  at  the  expenses  perhaps,  when  it  happens 
to  review  public  accounts. 

In  some  populous  cities  even  yet  the  almshouses  are 
hardly  more  than  enlarged  specimens  of  this  same  type. 
The  different  classes  of  dependents  are  still  assembled  in 
one  great  institution,  and  the  public  assumes  it  has  discharged 
its  whole  duty  by  giving  enough  food  and  fuel  to  keep  the  in- 
dividuals that  make  up  the  incongruous  mass  from  hunger 
and  cold.^ 

The  next  stage  in  institutional  development  has  been  de- 
scribed in  the  following  words  :  — 

"  When  this  humble  home  was  out-grown  or  worn-out  in  the  older 
States  about  the  middle  of  the  century  and  for  a  generation  later,  a 
new  almshouse  would  be  built ;  and  the  stage  exemplified  by  the  new 
building  may  be  called  that  of  the  '  imposing  edifice.'  The  architecture 
of  this  period  was  from  the  outside  in  ;  the  building  was  planned  for 
the  admiration  of  the  passers-by  rather  than  for  the  comfort  of  the  in- 
habitants. It  was  generally  four  or  five  stories  high,  regardless  of  the 
infirmities  of  its  inmates  ;   perfectly   symmetrical,   though  the  male 

1  Ellwood,  Bulletin  on  "  Almshouses  in  Missouri,"  pp.  lS-14, 


198  AMEBIC  AN   CHARITIES. 

population  was  generally  two  or  three  times  the  female,  and  in  other 
respects  planned  without  apparent  reference  to  the  uses  to  which  it  was 
to  be  put."  1 

A  third  stage,  as  regards  architecture,  entered  upon  in  the 
last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  is  the  cottage  plan, 
—  a  plan  which  seems  to  combine  the  advantages  without 
the  defects  of  the  older  practice.  It  is,  concisely  speaking, 
a  group  of  houses,  sometimes  connected  by  passages,  permit- 
ting the  complete  separation  of  the  sexes,  separate  hospital 
cottages,  and  a  central  administration  building.  To  this 
class  belongs  the  New  York  City  Farm  Colony  established 
on  Staten  Island  as  a  branch  of  the  Home  for  the  Aged  and 
Infirm.^ 

While  this  evolution  of  the  almshouse  buildings  has  been 
taking  place,  a  much  more  important  movement  to  differen- 
tiate the  inmates  has  been  developed.  The  classification  of 
the  inmates  may  be  divided  into  two  parts  —  the  drafting 
out  of  the  almshouse  those  who  do  not  belong  in  it,  and  the 
differentiation  of  those  that  do  belong  in  it.  In  the  first 
division  stand  three  groups  which  are  gradually  being  taken 
over  into  institutions  where  they  can  receive  more  appropri- 
ate care.  The  first  group  includes  all  those  requiring  special 
scientific  treatment;  of  these  the  defective  classes  of  teach- 
able age,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  and  the  blind,  were  the  first 
to  be  drafted  off  to  educational  institutions,  usually  supported 
by  the  State.  Next  an  effort  was  made  to  have  the  State 
take  care  of  the  insane.  This  is  now  usually  done  so  far  as 
the  acute  insane  are  concerned,  but  the  great  expense  of 
providing  for  the  increasing  numbers  of  the  chronic  insane 
led  to  a  suspension  of  their  transfer  from  the  almshouses  to 
specialized  asylums.  The  State  of  New  York,  as  a  result  of 
the  Willard  report  in  1865,  determined  to  remove  all  insane 

1  Clark,  M.  V.,  "The  Almshouse,"  N.  C.  C,  1900,  p.  156.  Hibberd, 
Charities  Review,  vol.  x.,  1900,  p. 515 ff.,  571  ff.,  "The  Almshouse  System." 

2  Tower,  E.,  Charities  and  the  Commons,  vol.  xviii.,  1907,  p.  329. 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  199 

from  almshouses  to  State  institutions,  but  the  great  expense 
of  their  transfer  checked  the  movement,  and  it  was  thirty- 
years  before  it  was  able  to  assume  the  exclusive  care  of  all 
insane  not  in  private  hospitals.^  In  1900  Massachusetts 
provided  that  all  insane  should  be  cared  for  by  the  State. 
The  Commissioners  of  Public  Charities  of  Illinois  in  1907 
made  a  thorough  report  on  the  conditions  surrounding  the 
insane  in  county  almshouses.^  Among  the  fifteen  reasons 
for  complete  State  care,  they  enumerate  the  following  :  — 

"  Because,  while  this  General  Assembly  has  been  sitting,  a  girl  in  an 
Illinois  almshouse  has  been  hobbled  with  chains,  padlocked  to  her 
bare  ankles,  because  her  stamping  disturbed  other  inmates  in  the  insane 
department. 

"Because,.  .  .  a  rude  box,  with  wooden  slats  across  the  top,  supplied 
with  iron  hinges,  hasps,  and  bolt,  is  ready,  in  a  certain  almshouse,  to 
receive  any  insane  man  who  becomes  unruly,  a  service  it  has  per- 
formed for  others. 

"Because,  to-day  there  are  almshouses  in  Illinois  where  steel  hand- 
cuffs, barred  cells,  cages,  and  padlocks  are  in  service  when  required  to 
restrain  the  insane.  Imagine  an  insane  girl  20  years  old  locked  in  a 
steel  cage  !  This  happened  recently  in  Stark  County. 
'^"~"  Because,  in  54  almshouses  there  is  no  provision  to  separate  the 
insane  from  plain  paupers. 

"  Because,  any  insane  resident  of  Illinois  should  have  just  as  good 
care  as  any  other  insane  resident." 

The  State  of  Illinois  is,  however,  no  worse  than  a  number 
of  others  in  respect  to  abuses  in  almshouses.  In  a  thorough 
and  impartial  investigation  of  the  almshouses  of  Missouri, 
Professor  Ellwood  found  over  1177  insane  persons  —  about 
one-third  of  all  inmates  —  in  almshouses,  and  a  tendency 
toward  an  increased  almshouse  care  of  the  indigent  lunatic. 

Of  the  treatment  of  the  insane  he  says :  — 

"  I  learned  of  one  almshouse  superintendent  who  declared  that  he 
found  the  horsewhip  to  be  the  most  efficacious  means  of  quieting  in- 

1  Assembly  Documents,  No.  19,  N.  Y.,  1865.  Report  of  State  Committee 
in  Lunacy,  1889.  2  Bulletin  Illinois  Board  of  Charities,  April,  1907. 


200  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

sane  inmates.  In  another,  I  found  that  an  insane  woman  had  been 
kept  strapped  in  bed  for  over  six  years.  According  to  the  first  annual 
report  of  the  Missouri  State  Board  of  Charities,  on  one  county  poor- 
farm  an  insane  man  was  found  who  had  been  kept  in  a  stockade,  open 
to  the  sky,  winter  and  summer,  with  hardly  a  shred  of  clothing  on  him, 
for  several  years.  According  to  the  same  report  another  insane  man 
was  found  chained  to  a  stump  in  a  poorhouse  yard.  .  .  .  In  general,  my 
investigation  disclosed  that  in  a  majority  of  Missouri  almshouses  there 
are  cells  for  their  confinement ;  that  in  many  cases  manacles  and  chains 
were  put  on  the  insane,  under  which  restraint  they  are  kept  for  years  ; 
and  tliat  they  are,  if  not  brutally  treated,  grossly  neglected."  i 

Professor  Ell  wood  places  the  responsibility  for  this  con- 
dition of  things  where  it  belongs,  when  he  says  that  the 
superintendents  have  to  manage  as  best  they  can  the  persons 
turned  over  to  them  by  the  county  authorities,  and  that  the 
blame  nltimately  rests  with  the  people  of  the  whole  State, 
who  permit  by  law  the  commitment  of  the  indigent  insane 
to  almshouses." 

Many  States  have  entered  upon  a  policy  of  State  care,  and 
then  failed  to  make  appropriations  large  enough  to  carry  out 
such  a  policy.  The  result  has  been  that,  after  some  State 
institutions  were  built,  a  large  number  of  insane  still  remain 
in  the  almshouses,  because  the  special  institutions  are  over- 
crowded and  can  receive  no  more.  This  is  practically  the 
situation  in  Illinois.  In  California  the  lunacy  commissioners 
frequently  refuse  to  adjudge  an  almshouse  inmate  insane,  be- 
cause the  State  institutions  are  so  overcrowded  that  they 
say  he  is  better  left  in  the  almshouse. 

The  movement  for  State  educational  institutions  for  the 
feeble-minded  has  only  recently  made  much  headway,  and 
the  custodial  care  of  feeble-minded  adults  in  special  institu- 
tions is  attained  in  only  a  fe^v  States.  The  first  public  in- 
stitution for  epileptics  was  opened  in  Ohio  in  1893,  and  since 
1900  the  movement  to  establish  colonies  has  gained  consider- 

1  Ellwood,  "  Alnishouse  Abuses,"  N.  C.  C,  1903,  p.  387. 

2  Ellwood,  Bulletin  on  "  Almshouses  in  Missouri,"  1904,  pp.  9-11. 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  201 

able  momentum.  The  present  proportions  of  the  classes 
needing  scientific  treatment,  who  are  still  found  in  alms- 
houses, is  shown  in  Table  XL VIII.  (p.  202). 

It  will  be  seen  that  10  per  cent  of  almshouse  inmates 
are  insane  and  22  per  cent  feeble-minded  or  epileptic,  con- 
stituting nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  institution's  popula- 
tion, who  should  obviously  be  provided  for  elsewhere. 

The  second  group  requiring  special  care,  and  therefore  to 
be  removed  from  the  almshouse,  is  the  children.  It  was 
long  ago  seen  that  their  mimetic  tendencies,  and  the  utter 
lack  of  education  in  the  almshouse  or  of  anything  to  stimu- 
late ambition  or  provoke  energy,  guaranteed  their  ruin. 
Placing  them  out  by  the  local  poor-law  officers  gave  very 
unsatisfactory  results,  as  they  were  spoiled  by  the  time  they 
were  old  enough  to  work,  and  the  class  of  people  applying 
for  them  at  the  almshouse  seldom  wanted  them  for  purposes 
other  than  service.  There  was  consequently  much  agitation 
and  some  legislation  to  get  children  out  of  the  almshouses, 
either  into  special  institutions,  public  or  private,  or  into 
suitable  homes. 

Homer  Folks  wrote  in  1902 :  — 

"  The  delay  in  the  removal  of  children  from  almshouses  is  a  lament- 
able illustration  of  the  slowness  with  which  such  reforms  proceed. 
Thirty-five  years  have  passed  since  Ohio  enacted  the  first  law  in  the 
United  States  looking  toward  the  removal  of  all  children  from  alms- 
houses, but  as  yet  barely  a  dozen  States  —  about  one-fourth  of  the 
whole  number  —  have  followed  her  example,  and  even  in  these  States 
the  laws  are  not,  in  all  cases,  fully  enforced.  .  .  .  Contrary  to  the 
general  opinion  the  States,  .  .  .  which  are  the  worst  offenders  in  this 
regard,  include  ten  of  the  sixteen  which  comprised  the  Union  in  1801."  ^ 

Mr.  Folks's  statement  was  based  upon  the  Census  returns 
of  1890.  Table  XLIX.,  which  includes  the  figures  from  the 
enumeration  of  1903,  gives  a  more  favorable  vieAv. 

It  appears  that  the  largest  proportion  of  children,  rela- 

1  Folks,  "The  Care  of  Destitute  .  .  .  Children,"  pp.  72-82. 


202 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


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North  Atlantic 
South  Atlantic 
North  Central 
South  Central 
Western    .     . 

w  tn 

11 

°5 

North  Atlantic 
South  Atlantic 
North  Central 
South  Central 
Western    .     . 

TBE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES. 


203 


tively  though  not  absolutely,  at  both  dates,  was  found  in 
almshouses  in  the  South  Atlantic  and  South  Central  di- 
visions, and  the  smallest  in  the  Western.  In  all  the  divi- 
sions, however,  there  was  a  marked  decrease  in  both  the 
proportionate  and  absolute  number  of  children.  Many  who 
have  been  interested  in  the  agitation  for  the  removal  of 
children  from  these  institutions  will  be  disappointed  at 
finding  that  2091  children  under  16  years  of  age  are  still  so 
cared  for  —  or  rather  so  neglected.  But  it  should  be  noted 
that  nearly  one-third  are  under  one  year  of  age. 

TABLE   XLIX.* 

Children  under  10  Years  of  Age  in  Almshouses. 

1880-1903  Census. 


Year. 

United 
States. 

North 
Atlantic 
Division. 

South 
Atlantic 
Division. 

North 
Central 
Division. 

South 
Central 
Division. 

Western 
Division. 

1880 
1890 
1903 

6902 
4338 
2081 

3021 

1654 

741 

933 
779 
473 

2358 

1375 

399 

517 
492 
420 

73 

38 
42 

*  Arranged  from  tables  in  Census  Bulletin  154,  p.  4,  1890,  and  Special  Report, 
"  Paupers  in  Almshouses,"  1904.  For  Census  purposes  the  United  States  are  arranged 
In  the  following  groups  :  North  Atlantic  Division,  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont, 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania; 
South  Atlantic  Division,  Delaware,  Maryland,  District  of  Columbia,  Virginia,  West 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida  ;  North  Centr.al  Division, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Iowa,  Missouri,  North  Dakota, 
South  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Kansas ;  South  Central  Division,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Indian  Territory,  Arkansas,  Oklahoma ;  West- 
ern Division,  Montana,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Utah,  Nevada, 
Idaho,  Washington,  Oregon,  California. 

The  large  number  of  infants  indicates  that  many  alms- 
houses serve  also  the  purpose  of  maternity  hospitals,  and 
that  the  children  are  not  retained  there  after  one  or  two 
years  of  age.  On  the  whole,  the  showing  of  progress  is 
fairly  satisfactory.  In  those  communities  where  the  burden 
of  general  pauperism  is  light,  the  proportion  of  almshouse 


204 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


inmates  who  are  children  is  large,  indicating  that  this  con- 
dition is  tolerated  in  communities  where  relief  work  has  not 
drawn  the  interested  attention  of  the  community.  A  com- 
parison of  the  following  table  with  the  one  just  given  will 
make  this  point  clear  :  — 

TABLE   L. 

Paupers  in  Almshouses,  1880,  1890,  and  1903. 
U.  S.  Census. 


Geographical 
Divisions. 

1S80. 

1890. 

1903. 

S    §    !5 
A,    ®    O 
(E    a    H 
K    O    -< 
«    3    J 

^    ^    S 

i 

0 
PL, 

s  ^  i 

»:  o  o 

00    !S    H 

a  o  < 

m 

<:?  P 

p2 

Sib 

P  ;i  a. 
0^  2Ph 

North  Atlantic 
South  Atlantic 
.North  Central  .     . 
South  Central  .     . 
Western.     .     .     . 
United  States  .     . 

33,933 
6,975 

19,811 
3,676 
1,808 

66,203 

2339 
918 

1141 
412 

1023 

1320 

31,143 
8,100 

25,615 
5,049 
3,138 

73,045 

1789 
914 

1145 
460 

1036 

1166 

33,278 
8,298 

27,745 
6,457 
5,986 

81,764 

1489 
754 

1001 
427 

1346 

1014 

All  the  geographic  divisions  except  the  Western  show  de- 
clining ratios  of  paupers  to  population  ;  the  decrease  is  most 
marked  in  the  North  Atlantic,  amounting  to  300  per  mill- 
ion. The  South  Atlantic  States  come  next  with  a  decline 
of  160.  Mr.  John  Koren,  Special  Expert  Agent  of  the 
Census,  thus  summarizes  the  comparison  :  ^  — 

"  The  fact  stands  out  that  the  ratio  of  almshouse  paupers  to  popula- 
tion has  decreased,  not  only  in  the  United  States  as  a  whole,  but  in 
most  of  the  States.  With  very  few  exceptions  (Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut)  the  increased  ratios  appear  in  the  newer  commonwealths, 
and  are  attributable  for  the  most  part  to  the  ampler  institutional  pro- 

1  Special  Report,  "Paupers  in  Almshouses,"  liX)4,  p.  8.  On  page  7  is 
given  a  detailed  table  of  the  uumber  and  ratios  of  paupers  to  population 
by  States. 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  205 

visions  for  dependents  and  not  to  an  exceptional  increase  of  pauperism. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  equally  a  mistake  to  read  in  the  de- 
creased ratios  observable  elsewhere  merely  evidence  of  correspondingly 
decreasing  wanl.  .  .  .  The  rise  or  fall  in  the  ratios  of  almshouse 
paupers  to  population  can  only  remotely  serve  as  a  general  index  of 
prevailing  distress  or  prosperity  so  long  as  many  other  factors  entering 
into  the  problem  of  poverty  remain  unknown." 

In  general,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  decrease  in  the 
proportionate  almshouse  population  comes  not  so  much  from 
a  diminution  of  pauperism,  as  from  the  differentiation  al- 
ready described.  But  undoubtedly,  better  legislation  and 
administration  have  contributed  to  the  diminution;  and 
finally  the  development  of  charity  organization  societies 
and  of  private  agencies  for  the  care  of  children  and  of  needy 
families  has  saved  a  considerable  number  of  dependents  from 
institutional  life.  Koren  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  in 
States  with  the  best-equipped  systems  of  organized  charity, 
the  pauper  ratios  have  decreased,  notwithstanding  that  some 
of  them  contain  the  largest  urban  centres  in  the  country. 

A  third  group,  which  should  manifestly  be  excluded  from 
the  almshouse,  is  the  pauper-delinquent.  In  most  States, 
tramps  and  disorderly  persons  are  accommodated  here  be- 
cause of  the  lack  of  any  place  of  safe-keeping  between  the 
almshouse  and  the  jail.  In  the  more  advanced  States  such 
persons  are  sent  to  workhouses  or  reformatories.  The  dis- 
grace that  attaches  to  almshouse  relief  will  not  be  lifted  until 
differentiation  has  been  carried  a  step  farther,  and  there  is 
some  classification  of  inmates  on  the  basis  of  character  as 
disclosed  in  individual  and  family  history.  Reformatory 
institutions  to  which  habitual  drunkards,  prostitutes,  and 
other  misdemeanants  can  be  sent,  and  in  which  they  must 
remain  until  reformation  or  death  supervenes,  would  relieve 
the  almshouse  of  many  inmates,  and  the  worthy  poor  of  a 
very  considerable  portion  of  the  disgrace  which  attaches  to 
going  there. 


206 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


The  effect  of  the  drafting  off  of  the  special  classes  to  other 
institutions  is  seen  in  the  altered  character  of  the  residuum. 
The  general  average  age  of  81,412  paupers  admitted  in  1904 
was  49.4  years  —  much  higher  than  formerly;  the  largest 
proportion  admitted  in  1904  is  found  in  the  age  group,  60 
to  64  years,  and  36  per  cent  of  the  total  admissions  were 
above  60.  Of  the  paupers  in  all  almshouses  in  the  United 
States  in  1904,  43  per  cent  were  over  60  years  of  age ; 
while  in  Missouri,  where  the  inmates  of  almshouses  are  still 
of  all  classes,  the  per  cent  of  persons  over  60  is  only  37. 

When  carried  far  enough  the  policy  of  differentiation 
leaves  in  the  almshouses  only  the  infirm  and  incapable. 
Table  LI.  illustrates  this  tendency. 


TABLE  LI. 

Paupers  by  Wouking  Capacity. 


Paupers  at  least  10  Tears  op  Age  in 
Almshouses,  1904. 

Class. 

Conti- 
nental 
United 
St-ates. 

North 

Atlan- 
tic. 

South 
Atlan- 
tic. 

North 
Central. 

South 
Central. 

West- 
ern. 

Pee  Cent  Distribution  of  those  enumerated, 
Dec.  81,  1903. 

All  Classes,  81,704. 

100.0 

100.0 

100  0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

Able-bodied     .... 
Incapacitated  .... 
Unknown    

11.7 

85.0 

3.3 

15.8 

81.0 

3.2 

7.2 

88.6 

4.2 

9.8 

87.7 
2.5 

6.1 

89.9 

4.0 

10.0 
84.3 

5.7 

Per  Cent  Distribution  of  those  ad.mitted 

DURING   1904. 

All  Classes,  81,412. 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

Able-bodied     .     .     .     . 
Incapacitated  .... 
Unknown     

23.6 

67.4 

9.0 

29.4 

62.6 

8.0 

10.6 

76.8 
12.6 

16.5 

77.1 
6.4 

12.0 
72.3 

15.7 

31.2 
57.9 
10.9 

THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  207 

As  tramps  and  other  wayfarers  were  excluded  throughout 
from  the  enumeration,  the  percentages  in  the  table  refer  to 
bona  fide  inmates. 

The  table  shows,  as  might  be  expected,  that  the  great 
urban  districts  furnish  the  largest  proportion  of  able-bodied 
inmates.  The  high  percentage  in  the  Western  division  is 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  almshouses  are  used  as  con- 
valescent wards  and  sometimes  are  the  resort  for  acute  ill- 
ness. When  all  is  said,  however,  there  remain  far  too  many 
able-bodied  in  these  institutions,  as  shown  by  the  chart  on 
the  following  page,  representing  the  classes  in  the  alms- 
houses of  the  city  of  Boston. 

One  of  the  completest  pictures  of  an  almshouse  popula- 
tion ever  presented  was  published  by  the  New  York  State 
Board  of  Charities  in  1877.  It  gave  the  basis  for  an  agita- 
tion which  resulted  in  the  removal  of  children  and  insane 
persons  from  State  almshouses.  Of  the  12,614  inmates  in- 
cluded in  this  inquiry,  422  were  born  in  almshouses,  and 
1650  were  admitted  when  less  than  ten  years  old;  nearly  13 
per  cent  were  then  under  10,  and  almost  the  same  pro- 
portion were  over  70.  The  average  time  of  dependence 
for  all  inmates  amounted  to  4.88  years,  not  including  the 
time  when  they  had  been  public  charges  in  other  institutions, 
or  as  outdoor  paupers  —  a  total  of  61,595  years  of  alms- 
house care.  Of  the  males,  84  per  cent,  and  of  the  females, 
42  per  cent,  were  believed  to  have  been  intemperate ;  79 
per  cent  and  21  per  cent,  respectively,  were  insane ;  65  per 
cent  were  unquestionably  permanently  dependent.  Few  of 
the  inmates  had  ever  owned  property  to  any  considerable 
extent,  some  were  known  to  be  pauper  stock,  while  the  mass 
confessed  to  idle  and  shiftless  habits  in  early  life.^ 

While  no  State  at  the  present  time  presents  as  terrible 
conditions  as  this,  nearly  all  of  the  States  still  retain  abuses 
similar  in  kind  if  not  in  degree.    The  committee  appointed  by 

1  Tenth  Annual  Report,  1877.    See  Table  IX.,  p.  56,  and  pp.  108-9,  ante. 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


1000 

- 

950 

- 

"J54 

900 

- 

850 

- 

800 

- 

750 

- 

700 

- 

660 

- 

600 

- 

550 

- 

500 

- 

450 

- 

400 

- 

350 

- 

SCO 

- 

250 

- 

200 

- 

150 

- 

100 

- 

50 

- 

DIAGRAM  v.* 

Showing   the    Proportion    of    Able-bodied   In- 
mates,  AND  of  those    incapacitated   FOR    SeLF- 

suppoRT,  TO  the  Total  Adult  Population  of 
Almshouse  and  Hospital  at  Long  Island,  and 
of  Almshouse  at  Charlestown,  Massachu- 
setts, on  Jan.  31,  1907. 


165 


650 


Note.  —  These  categories, 
though  not  given  as  medical 
statements,  are  yet,  we  believe, 
accurate  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses, and  have  been  carefully 
determined  by  the  superintend- 
ents of  the  two  institutions. 
Each  individual  is  counted  in 
one  category  only,  although 
many  might  fairly  appear  in  two 
or  even  three  categories  ;  as,  for 
instance,  a  man  who  is  old  may 
be  lame,  and  also  be  suffering 
from  acute  bronchitis,  which 
would  place  him  under  three 
categories,  while  he  appears  in 
this  chart  under  but  one. 


34 


76 


29 


*  Tenth  Annual  Eeport,  "  Pauper  Institutions  Department,"  Boston. 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  209 

the  town  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  to  report  upon  outdoor 
relief  in  that  place  in  1891,  made  a  careful  examination  of  the 
almshouse  and  its  inmates.  They  found  that  a  considerable 
number  of  the  insane  and  imbecile  were  kept  there  under 
very  unsatisfactory  conditions,  also  some  children  suffering 
from  paralysis  or  other  incurable  disease ;  that  some  wards 
of  the  building  were  used  as  a  prison  to  which  police-court 
cases  were  sent;  and  that  the  most  notorious  police-court 
recidivists  were  most  likely  to  be  or  to  have  been  in  the 
almshouse.^ 

A  recent  and  thorough  study  of  the  condition  of  the 
county  almshouses  of  Missouri  made  by  Professor  Charles 
A.  Ellwood  presents  a  picture  of  conditions  which  are  typical 
of  those  existing  in  more  than  half  the  States.^  Table  LIT. 
(p.  210)  gives  the  more  important  facts  in  condensed  form. 

It  appears  that  54  per  cent  of  all  inmates  are  males,  37.7 
per  cent  are  over  60,  and  4.6  under  18  years  of  age. 
Very  few  of  these  persons — not  more  than  15  per  cent  — 
are  able  to  do  any  work;  71  per  cent  are  defective,  two- 
thirds  of  all  almshouses  having  insane  inmates,  and  more 
than  half  of  them  having  cells  for  the  violent  insane. 
Feeble-minded  and  epileptics  constitute  20  per  cent  of  the 
total,  and  there  were  noted  instances  of  feeble-minded 
women  who  had  become  mothers  of  illegitimate  children 
while  in  almshouses.  Fourteen  per  cent  are  blind,  crippled, 
and  paralytic ;  yet  only  two  almshouses  in  the  State  have 
nurses  for  the  sick,  and  these  are  not  trained  nurses. 

Turning  from  statistics  of  inmates  to  the  provision  made 
for  them,  it  appears  that  the  cost  of  one-third  of  all  these 
almshouses  was  less  than  $1500;  one  only  is  on  the  cottage 
plan,  fifteen  of  the  institutional  type,  and  all  the  rest  are 
old  farmhouses  in  different  stages  of  repair.  Only  five 
have  modern  sanitary  arrangements.     As  to  management, 

1  Report  of  Committee,  pp.  xiii-xiv. 

2  Bulletin  on  the  "  Condition  of  County  Almshouses  in  Missouri,"  1904. 


210 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


TABLE   LII. 

Statistics  of  Missouri  Almshouses,  1903. 


89 

Counties 

HAVING 

less  than 
200  Alms- 
house 

PaUI'EES 

St. 
Louis 
City. 

Total. 

Pee  Cent 
OF  Total 
Number 

OF 

Inmates. 

Each. 

Number. 

Number. 

Number. 

Total  Inmates 

1083 

1545 

3348 

Males 

1044 

795 

1819 

54.0 

Females 

759 

770 

1529 

46.0 

White 

1593 

1463 

3056 

Colored 

210 

82 

292 

8.7 

Age  of  Inmates  : 

Above  GO 

669 

593 

1262 

37.7 

Between  18  and  GO      .     .     . 

1037 

885 

1922 

57.7 

Under  18 

87 

67 

154 

4.6 

Between  2  and  14  ...     . 

72 

20 

92 

Defective  Classes  : 

71.2 

Insane      

293 

884 

1177] 

Feeble-minded 

504 

47 

551  i 

57.0 

Epileptic 

96 

85 

181 

Blind 

92 

22 

114] 

Crippled 

187 

76 

263  [ 

14.2 

Paralytic 

67 

31 

98  J 

Able  to  do  Some  Work   .     . 

15.0 

Management : 

By  Lease  System  .... 

Yes,  55 

No 

Cells  for  Insane      .... 

Yes,  54 

Yes 

.  .  . 

Employment  of  Able-bodied 

Op.,  74 

Op. 

Religious  Services  .... 

Yes,  35 

Yes 

THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  211 

a  majority  are  under  the  lease  system,  that  is,  let  out  to  the 
lowest  bidder,  which  makes  the  superintendent  dependent 
upon  what  he  can  save  from  the  inmates. 
One  superintendent  wrote  candidly :  — 

"  A  few  years  ago  the  poor  were  let  at  $38.00  per  head  per  year. 
Under  that  treatment  there  were  nine  out  of  nineteen  that  died,  and 
the  county  had  to  pay  doctor's  bill  and  burial  expenses,  which  cost 
more  than  board  and  clothes.  They  now  pay  $72.00  a  head  per  year. 
and  see  that  it  is  cheaper  and  more  humane." 

As  to  classification,  Professor  Ellwood  reports  that  in 
14  out  of  90  almshouses  there  is  none — not  even  separa- 
tion of  the  sexes  ;  in  50  the  only  segregation  is  by  sex,  in 
20  by  sex  and  color ;  3  only  have  adequate  classification  by 
sex,  race,  age,  and  character.  In  only  16  almshouses  is 
work  required  of  the  able-bodied  ;  the  rules  of  admission  are 
lax  and  indefinite,  and  of  discharge  even  more  so.  As  the 
final  touch  to  this  dreary  picture,  it  is  reported  that  only 
1  has  a  library,  only  4  have  weekly  religious  services,  and 
55  have  none  at  all,  while  amusements  and  recreation  are 
almost  wholly  lacking. 

A  study  of  228  almshouse  women  in  San  Francisco  made 
in  1895  gives  a  somewhat  different  view,  and  adds  some  in- 
formation concerning  more  modern  types  of  paupers.^  In 
San  Francisco,  the  jail,  the  hospital,  and  the  almshouse  are 
each,  in  turn,  the  resort  of  the  typical  inmate.  They  come 
to  the  latter  to  recuperate  so  long  as  any  vitality  remains, 
and  finally  return  there  to  die,  when  completely  wrecked 
by  dissipation  and  irregular  living.  The  women  are  much 
completer  wrecks  than  the  men,  because  prostitution  gives 
the  idle  and  vicious  an  alternative  career  until  the  last.  Of 
the  conditions  which  brought  them  to  this  pass,  Mrs. 
Coolidge  says :  — 

1  Coolidge,  M.  R.  (Smith),  "  Almshouse  Women,"  American  Statistical 
Association,  1895,  vol.  iv, 


212  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

"  One  of  the  commonest  results  of  immigration  seems  to  be  that  the 
children  acquire  a  public-school  education,  become  prosperous,  and 
rise  in  social  station  ;  the  old  mother  or  father  —  foreign,  uneducated, 
often  vulgar,  and  unpresentable  —  becomes  an  unwelcome  reminder 
of  their  common  origin,  and  does  not  fit  into  the  American  life  of  the 
children.  They  are  therefore  quietly  thrown  back  into  the  alms- 
house, where  they  will  be  reasonably  comfortable  and  unknown  to  the 
children's  friends.  The  old  people  are  often  resigned  to  their  fate  be- 
cause they  are  led  to  beheve  that  the  almshouse  is  a  State  institution, 
and  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  State  to  take  care  of  them.  Often  it 
hurts  their  pride  less  to  be  dependent  on  that  abstract  thing,  '  the 
State,'  than  upon  children  and  relatives  who  are  ashamed  of  them. 
Five  have  quarrelled  with  daughters  or  grandchildren,  and  are  in  the 
almshouse  because  of  spite  on  one  side  or  the  other.  This  again  is  a 
larger  factor  than  appears  in  numbers.  A  crotchety,  quarrelsome, 
sensitive  old  woman,  who  can  do  very  little  work  and  who  thinks 
much  should  be  done  for  her,  is  a  serious  burden  in  any  poor  family, 
and  a  source  of  family  trouble  anywhere.  The  majority  of  women  in 
the  almshouse  are  diificult  of  temper,  and  doubtless  this  was  originally 
a  cause  of  separation  from  their  families  in  many  cases  where  it  does 
not  appear  in  their  stories.  Three  could  be  partially  supported  by 
tlieir  children  if  they  could  do  even  a  little  housework  well  or  could 
be  left  alone  at  home.  In  twelve  cases  there  were  children  who  were 
able,  from  the  mother's  own  story,  to  support  her,  but  no  satisfactory 
reason  why  they  did  not  do  so  was  given. 

"  Of  the  184  children,  40  are  '  somewhere  '  ;  that  is,  they  have  been 
separated  from  the  mother  in  one  way  or  another,  and  she  no  longer 
knows  where  they  are.  In  the  majority  of  cases  this  occurs  because 
the  mother  cannot  write,  or  writes  with  diflSculty,  not  having  the 
habit,  and  does  not  therefore  keep  her  connection  with  her  children. 
The  children,  usually  of  the  laboring  class,  drift  from  one  place  to  an- 
other at  work,  write  less  and  less  often,  until  finally  an  illness,  a  lost 
letter,  a  wrong  address,  some  trivial  accident,  breaks  the  last  link 
which  bound  them  together.  The  fact  that  the  parent  is  usually  a 
foreigner,  the  immensity  of  this  country,  and  the  mobility  of  the 
laboring  classes,  all  tend  to  produce  the  same  pitiable  result, —  a  con- 
dition undoubtedly  peculiar  to  American  pauperism." 

It  is  encouraging  to  note  that  in  some  of  the  older  States, 
the  almshouse  is  approaching  the  practicable  ideal.  The 
almshouses  of  Massachusetts   are  controlled  by  the  local 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  2lS 

Overseers  of  the  Poor,  and  supervised  by  the  State  Board  of 
Charity.  For  this  purpose  an  inspector  is  employed  who 
makes  regular  annual  visits  and  detailed  reports ;  frequent 
visits  are  also  made  by  the  members  of  the  Board.  In  addi- 
tion, there  are  employed  in  a  large  proportion  of  towns  hav- 
ing almshouses,  women  visitors,  who  give  their  services 
without  pay,  and  whose  chief  office  is  that  of  personal  sym- 
pathy and  comfort  for  the  inmates.  In  1908  the  State 
Board  of  Charity  reports  as  follows :  — 

"  Notwithstanding  the  continued  existence  of  certain  defects  and 
the  occasional  failure  of  voters  and  officials  to  appreciate  the  impor- 
tance of  maintaining  satisfactory  almshouses,  during  the  seven  years 
since  the  passage  of  the  law  specifically  providing  for  almshouse  visita- 
tion there  has  been  a  steadily  increasing  feeling  of  confidence  in  the 
Board's  work  on  the  part  of  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  and  a  steady  j 
improvement  in  almshouse  conditions. 

"  Of  the  197  almshouses,  the  large  majority  have  wooden  buildings. 
About  three-quarters  of  them  are  provided  with  sitting-rooms  and 
bath-rooms,  either  fully  or  partly  equipped.  One  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  have  water-closets.  Three-quarters  of  them  are  heated  by  steam, 
hot  air,  or  hot  water,  and  the  remainder  by  stoves.  In  nearly  all  cases 
where  fire-escapes  are  a  matter  of  importance  they  are  provided.  Only 
35  almshouses  have  special  hospital  accommodations.  The  whole 
number  of  inmates  of  all  the  almshouses  at  the  time  of  visitation  was 
4324,  viz.  2402  men,  1829  women,  and  93  children,  or  persons  under 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  The  whole  number  of  inmates  of  all  the 
almshouses  during  the  year  was  8442.  There  were  3868  reported  as 
permanent  and  456  as  temporary  ;  and  2782  were  stated  to  have  rela- 
tives in  town.  Friends  and  relatives  paid  for  the  board  of  99.  Weekly 
bathing  was  generally  required.  Work  of  greater  or  less  value  was 
done  by  a  total  of  376  inmates.  In  all  the  almshouses  there  was  a  total 
of  860  defective  inmates,  of  whom  275  were  reported  as  idiotic,  57 
epileptic,  471  crippled,  12  blind,  13  insane,  12  idiotic  and  crippled,  5 
blind  and  crippled,  2  epileptic  and  idiotic,  1  feeble-minded  and  crip- 
pled, 1  feeble-minded,  1  feeble-minded  and  blind,  7  epileptic  and  crip- 
pled, 1  deaf,  blind,  and  crippled,  1  deaf  and  dumb,  and  1  blind  and 
deaf.  There  was  a  total  of  139  consumptive  cases,  who  in  the  large 
majority  of  Instances  received  special  treatment  and  diet.  Almshouse 
officials  are  gradually  but  surely  becoming  persuaded  of  the  necessity 


^14  AMERICAN  CBARITIES. 

of  separating  consumptives  from  other  almshouse  inmates,  and  of  pro- 
viding the  best  possible  treatment  and  care  for  them.  The  number 
of  vagrants  in  ahnshouses  has  steadily  decreased  from  34,504  in  1901 
to  3127  during  the  last  year.  Two  years  ago  89  almshouses  cared  for 
15,491  vagrants,  a  year  ago  61  almshouses  cared  for  a  total  of  7900, 
and  during  the  last  year  26  almshouses  cared  for  3127.  This  reduction 
has  been  accomplished  both  by  new  legislation  and  by  a  stricter  en- 
forcement of  the  law."  1 

The  Massachusetts  Board  reports  that  owing  to  closer 
supervision  and  stricter  enforcement  of  the  law,  the  old 
''  rounder  "  has  practically  disappeared  from  the  almshouses ; 
and  that  the  removal  of  the  insane  under  the  act  of  1902 
leaves  the  almshouse  to  provide  for  the  old,  infirm,  and  crip- 
pled, and  for  temporary  cases  of  poverty,  chiefly  women 
with  one  or  more  children.  For  the  most  part,  the  4324 
inmates  were  ''  worthy  poor  people  to  be  suitably  cared  for." 
Judging  from  the  report,  the  two  most  serious  defects  of  the 
Massachusetts  system  are  the  lack  of  provision  for  the  feeble- 
minded and  epileptic,  and  of  sufficient  hospital  equipment. 

The  most  significant  fact  in  connection  with  this  steady 
improvement  in  recent  years  is  that  it  has  been  accom- 
plished almost  entirely  by  the  voluntary  service  of  the 
philanthropic  citizens  of  the  State. 

Probably  a  majority  of  the  grave  evils  which  could  be 
charged  at  the  present  time  to  the  American  almshouse 
have  their  origin  in  a  lack  of  proper  classification  of  in- 
mates. Classification,  which  takes  selected  cases  out  of  the 
almshouses  altogether  and  puts  them  in  specialized  insti- 
tutions, has  already  been  discussed  at  length,  and  exist- 
ing faults  arise  chiefly  from  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
States  have  not  kept  pace  with  the  march  of  opinion  among 
specialists. 

In  the  main,  it  may  be  said  that,  wherever  the  blind,  the 
deaf  and  dumb,    the   insane,    epileptics,  idiots,  the  feeble- 

1  Twenty-ninth  Annual  Report,  1907,  pp.  6-7. 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  IN3IATES.  215 

minded,  and  children  are  left  in  the  local  almshouse,  grave 
abuses  are  sure  to  result,  unless  there  is  very  efficient  supervi- 
sion ;  and  even  then  the  condition  of  affairs  must  be  far  from 
satisfactory.  While  they  remain,  therefore,  they  must  be 
given  a  degree  of  special  care.  Idiots  should  be  entirely 
separated  from  other  inmates, under  constant  supervision;  the 
feeble-minded  should  be  kept  employed,  according  to  their 
ability,  and  the  women  especially  must  be  strictly  super- 
vised and  separated  from  men  ;  epileptics  should  never  be  left 
alone,  and  should  be  kept  employed  as  much  as  possible. 

In  proj)ortion  as  these  classes  have  been  removed,  classi- 
fication within  the  almshouse  will  be  simplified,  but  it  is 
always  important  and  demands  constant  care  and  readjust- 
ment. There  are  four  lines  of  segregation  generally  laid 
down  as  fundamental :  by  sex,  by  color,  by  health,  and  by 
mental  and  moral  character.  The  neglect  to  separate  the 
sexes  is  partly  the  result  of  unsuitable  construction  of  build- 
ings, and  partly  of  the  low-grade  character  of  the  officials  in 
charge.  White  and  colored  inmates  should  be  distributed 
in  duplicate  cottages  or  wards. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  two-thirds  of  all  almshouse  in- 
mates are  incapacitated  in  one  way  or  another,  and  37  per 
cent  of  them  are  over  GO  years  of  age.  With  the  elimina- 
tion of  all  special  classes,  the  almshouse  becomes  primarily 
what  is  called  in  Ohio  an  infirmary.  The  Visiting  Medical 
Staff  of  the  Long  Island  (Massachusetts)  Hospital  state  the 
situation  clearly :  — 

"In  addition  to  the  large  number  suffering  from  well-defined  dis- 
ease, there  are  many  others  who,  through  infirmities  of  age,  should  be 
classified  as  hospital  or  infirmary  patients.  .  .  .  The  number  of  the 
chronic  sick  is  evidently  increasing  year  by  year.  .  .  .  Are  they  to 
be  treated  simply  as  city  charges,  or  are  they  to  be  given  the  advan- 
tages of  the  best  possible  modern  medical  treatment  under  conditions 
which  will  remove  them  from  the  social  stigma  of  pauperism  ?  .  .  . 
Ordinary  justice  requires  that  the  latter  course  be  adopted."  ^ 

1  Ninth  Annual  Report,  "  Pauper  Institutions  Department,"  1906,  p.  12. 


216  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Mrs.  Alice  N.  Lincoln  for  some  years  urged  that  the  sick 
poor,  no  matter  where  they  may  be  found,  should  receive  the 
same  care  as  other  sick  persons  ;  that  they  need  the  same 
nursing,  the  same  nourishing  food,  and  the  same  cleanliness 
and  care — in  short,  there  should  be  no  difference  between 
an  almshouse  hospital  and  a  general  hospital.^ 

Although  extensive  hospital  facilities  are  not  practicable, 
nor  required  in  small  almshouses,  there  are  certain  provi- 
sions essential  everywhere.  A  special  w^ard  for  general  dis- 
eases is  often  necessary,  even  in  small  institutions  ;  cancer 
patients  must  be  isolated  because  of  the  offensive  nature  of 
their  malady  in  the  later  stages  ;  and  tubercular  inmates 
should  not  only  be  in  separate  cottages,  but  should  have  their 
own  attendants. 

A  classification  on  the  basis  of  habits,  character,  and  a 
degree  of  refinement  is  usually  not  attempted,  although  it 
is  of  great  importance  to  the  inmates.  It  is  a  great  hardship 
for  the  respectable  who  have  seen  better  days  to  associate 
with  the  intemperate,  diseased,  and  disreputable ;  but  aside 
from  this  obvious  demarcation,  the  almshouse  inmate  is  often 
sensitive  about  social  distinctions  and  has  as  strong  pref- 
erences as  to  companionship  as  other  people.  Such  pecu- 
liarities must  be  considered  if  the  inmates  are  to  be  kept 
comfortable,  and  the  utmost  tact,  patience,  and  ingenuity 
are  required  to  adjust  these  relations  satisfactorily.  In  the 
San  Francisco  almshouse,  instead  of  wards  they  have  a  large 
number  of  rooms  —  a  form  of  construction  which  is  unde- 
sirable, but  which  was  at  one  time  used  to  good  purpose  to 
give  the  self-respecting  and  improvable  cases  a  semi-privacy 
which  they  valued.^ 

1  N.  C.  C,  1902,  "  The  Almshouse  Hospital." 

2  This  large  institution  was  in  charge  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  L.  Weaver 
from  1889-1897.  Especially  on  the  women's  side,  Mrs.  Weaver's  methods 
of  classification  wrought  notable  results.  Those  who  were  ambitious  in  a 
way,  and  anxious  to  keep  their  rooms  in  good  order,  were  groujjed  in  the 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  217 

But  no  amount  of  ingenuity  on  the  part  of  the  managers 
can  wholly  overcome  the  difficulties  arising  from  unsuitable 
construction  of  buildings.  ]N^either  the  converted  farmhouse 
nor  the  institutional  dormitory,  several  stories  in  height,  ad- 
mits of  proper  classification  of  the  aged,  sick,  and  infirm. 
It  is  now  agreed  that  the  cottage  plan  is  best  adapted  for 
the  purpose  by  its  greater  flexibility.  Not  the  least  of  its 
minor  advantages  is  the  fact  that  it  permits  the  superin- 
tendent and  attendants  to  be  "segregated"  also,  in  their 
hours  off  duty. 

This  leads  to  the  discussion  of  the  amount  of  land  which 
should  be  attached  to  the  institution.  The  original  idea  of 
the  "poor-farm"  was  that  the  able-bodied  should  earn  a 
portion  of  their  living,  and  the  manager  should  also  earn 
a  portion  of  his  own  salary  by  cultivation  of  the  land  —  as 
ministers  often  did  in  former  times.  In  proportion  as  the 
able-bodied,  the  young,  and  the  special  classes  generally 
have  been  excluded,  the  ability  of  the  inmates  to  work  has 
been  declining.  The  result  of  this  is  that  the  superin- 
tendent is  chiefly  engrossed  in  farming  to  the  neglect  of 
the  inmates.  It  is,  moreover,  a  doubtful  economy,  since  sup- 
plies can  be  purchased  cheaply  in  bulk.  But  the  greatest 
disadvantage  is  that  it  necessitates  the  location  of  the  alms- 
house in  the  country,  where  it  is  rarely  visited,  and  where 

rooms  along  one  corridor,  while  certain  women  who  had  no  ambition  and 
no  willingness  to  do  anything  unless  compelled  to  it,  had  rooms  along 
another  corridor.  The  inmates  themselves  called  the  first  "  Grand  Hall," 
and  the  second,  "Pauper  Alley."  Women  of  one  of  these  localities  were 
disinclined  to  associate  with  those  of  the  other.  In  filling  the  various 
rooms,  constant  effort  was  necessary  to  adapt  properly  the  dispositions  of 
the  several  occupants.  Mrs.  Weaver  at  one  time  had  quite  a  number  of 
inmates  with  whom  no  one  wished  to  room  because  they  were  such  terrific 
snorers.  They  were  not  even  congenial  associates  for  each  other.  She 
finally  hit  on  the  device  of  putting  a  snorer  in  a  room  with  a  woman  who 
was  hard  of  hearing.  This  almost  absurd  illustration  shows  what  in- 
ventiveness and  constant  personal  attention  are  necessary  in  order  to  fit 
the  inmates  of  an  institution  properly  together. 


218  AMERICAN  CHARlTim. 

the  provision  of  amusement  and  religions  services  are  made 
difficult.  There  should  be  only  enough  land  retained  to  fur- 
nish occupation  for  the  few  semi-able-bodied  and  for  pleasant 
grounds  about  the  cottages.^ 

Of  the  almshouse  abuses  which  result  from  the  mistakes 
or  wrong-doing  of  individual  officials,  we  shall  say  but  little. 
Among  them  may  be  enumerated  dishonest  or  wasteful  man- 
agement of  the  funds  ;  culpable  stinginess,  resulting  in  inad- 
equate or  unhealthful  food,  lack  of  proper  buildings,  heating 
apparatus,  clothing,  and  so  forth  ;  insanitary  conditions,  in- 
cluding dirt  and  vermin ;  and  finally,  actual  cruelty,  result- 
ing from  either  brutality  or  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  offi- 
cials in  charge.  Few  understand  how  easy  it  is  for  an  official 
in  charge  of  the  utterly  helpless  to  do  cruel  things  without 
intentional  cruelty.  In  the  rural  districts  especially,  abuses 
are  apt  to  arise  because  so  few  persons  concern  themselves 
with  the  institution.  The  superintendent  has  dreary  work, 
small  pay,  and  practically  no  general  recognition  of  his 
services,  whether  they  be  good  or  bad.  A  sensitive,  high- 
minded,  ambitious  man  is  not  likely  to  apply  for  or  accept 
such  a  place.  The  incumbent  is,  therefore,  almost  of  neces- 
sity a  tolerably  stolid,  unsympathetic  person,  and  one  who 
has  not  been  very  successful  in  other  lines.  The  officials 
under  whom  he  works  send  to  him  a  miscellaneous  assort- 
ment of  the  diseased,  defective,  and  incapable,  but  do  not 
give  him  the  proper  facilities  for  providing  for  these  various 
classes.  They  cut  his  appropriations  to  the  lowest  possible 
point,  and  he  fears  that  any  vigorous  protest  would  lose  him 
the  place.  He  therefore  concludes  that  he  may  as  well  get 
along  as  best  he  can,  since  to  object  would  only  bring  some 
more  docile  man  into  his  place.  On  the  other  hand,  most 
of  the  inmates  with  whom  he  has  to  deal  are  bad-tempered, 
unreasonable,  and  inveterately  querulous.     They  would  com- 

1  An  account  of  a  profitable  county  poor-farm  is  given  in  Bulletin  of 
Illinois  Board  of  Charities,  October,  1907. 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  219 

plain,  no  matter  what  might  be  done  for  them ;  and  he  grad- 
ually acts  on  the  unrecognized  impression  that  it  does  not 
matter  what  is  done  for  them  —  that  anything  is  good 
enough  for  them.  He  becomes  brutal  unconsciously,  and 
almost  in  self-defence.  After  a  few  years  he  does,  without 
question,  things  that  would  have  seemed  absolutely  awful 
to  him  when  he  first  entered  on  his  duties.  Ko  influential 
person  reviews  and  criticises  his  conduct,  and  he  not  unnat- 
urally settles  into  the  conviction  that  he  is  managing  the 
almshouse  as  well  as  the  community  cares  to  have  it  man- 
aged. One  can  but  sympathize  with  such  an  official,  even 
when  very  grave  abuses  have  grown  up  under  his  manage- 
ment. 

All  these  tendencies  are  exaggerated  wherever  the  alms- 
house is  managed  under  the  lease  system,  making  the  wages 
of  the  superintendent  dependent  upon  what  he  can  make 
off  the  farm  and  save  from  the  inmates.  In  Missouri  the 
system  has  been  shown  to  be  uneconomical,  and  as  Professor 
Ellwood.  says,  —  nobody  claims  that  it  is  humane ;  if  it  is  not 
cheaper,  the  only  argument  in  its  defence  falls  to  the  ground. 

The  second  great  evil  which  springs,  not  from  the  char- 
acter of  the  officials,  but  from  the  nature  of  our  almshouse 
organization,  is  laxness  regarding  admission  and  discharge 
of  inmates.  Slnce^ivery  person  is  enFitled  to  "be  savedfrom 
starvation  and  from  death  by  exposure,  —  which  is  nearly 
all  that  the  almshouse  does  for  its  beneficiaries,  —  any  one 
may  claim  its  shelter.  But  as  it  is  not  a  penal  institution, 
and  as  it  is  to  the  interest  of  no  one  to  have  persons  stay 
there  who  can  support  themselves  outside,  an  inmate  wish- 
ing to  discharge  himself  is  allowed  to  do  so.  To  the  average 
almshouse  official  this  justification  of  our  laxness  is  entirely 
conclusive.  Whatever  official  or  board  may  have  the  legal 
right  of  admitting  or  discharging  inmates,  the  right  of  ap- 
plicants to  be  admitted  or  discharged  is  regarded  as  in- 
alienable. 


220 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


The  results  of  this  apparently  defensible  practice  are 
thoroughly  bad.  Of  the  abases  to  which  it  gives  rise,  we 
may  mention  as  of  least  importance  the  support  by  the 
county  of  persons  having  pensions  or  property,  or  relatives 
able  to  support  them.  In  some  States,  even  where  it  is 
found  after  death  that  an  almshouse  inmate  had  considerable 
property,  no  attempt  is  made  to  recoup  the  county  or  town, 
for  the  outlay.^  A  second  and  more  serious  abuse  is  the 
making  of  the  almshouse  a  winter  resort  for  tramps,  and  a 
place  where  the  drunkard  and  the  prostitute  can  recuperate 
between  debauches. 

The  accompanying  table,  showing  the  mobility  of  the 
almshouse  population  in  San  Francisco,  is  typical  of  the 
conditions  in  many  other  cities. 


TABLE   LIII. 

Number  of  Times  admitted  and  readmitted  after  Discharge.* 

San  Francisco  Almshouse,  1889-1894. 


1 

2 

3 

■1 

5 

0 

T 

8 

9 

10-18 

Total  Number 
Per  cent     .     . 

2819 
64.3 

701 
16.1 

306 
7.0 

157 
3.6 

113 
2.6 

64 
1.5 

48 
1.1 

41 
.9 

28 
.6 

88 
2.0 

*  Coolidgre,  "Almshouse  Women,"'  p.  2'25. 

The  Federal  Census  of  almshouse  inmates  in  the  United 
States  shows  that  in  the  course  of  the  twelve  months  after 
Dec.  31,  1903,  the  admissions  almost  equalled  the  total 
almshouse  population  on  that  date,  and  the  discharges 
were  only  a  few  thousand  less.  Excluding  deaths  and 
transfers  to  other  institutions,  there  were  54,199  permanent 
or  temporary  discharges,  of  whom  only  one-fourth  were  dis- 

1  A  number  of  San  Francisco  miners  liave  been  supported  at  the  alms- 
house, and  twelve  women  were  found  tliere  whose  children  should  have 
supported  them. 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  221 

charged  to  the  keeping  of  relatives  or  friends.^  The  Hart- 
ford Committee  reported  a  man  whose  clothing,  supplied  at 
public  expense  while  he  came  and  went  at  pleasure  for  two 
years,  amounted  in  value  to  $85.28,  while  the  man  was 
receiving  at  the  same  time  a  federal  pension  of  $8  per  month. 
The  final  and  worst  result  of  permitting  the  destitute  to 
admit  and  discharge  themselves  at  will  is  that  it  enables 
the  dissolute  and  degenerate  to  have  offspring  "  after  their 
kind."  The  results  are  most  manifest  in  the  cases  of  feeble- 
minded women.  Mr.  Charles  Booth  gives  an  instance  of  an 
English  woman  who  in  a  little  more  than  eight  years  pre- 
sented the  rural  workhouse  at  Ashby-de-la-Zouch  with  five 
illegitimate  children.  In  the  workhouse  this  woman  was 
capable  and  industrious,  and  a  good  nurse.^  After  giving 
numerous  examples  in  her  paper  entitled  "One  Means  of 
Preventing  Pauperism,"  Mrs.  Lowell  says  :  — 

"I  speak  chiefly  of  women,  because  they  form  the  visible  links  in 
the  direful  chain  of  hereditary  pauperism  and  disease  ;  but  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  treatment  here  prescribed  for  them  (indeter- 
minate sentence  to  reformatory  institutions)  should  also  be  applied 
to  the  reformation  of  the  men, whose  evil  propensities  are  likewise 
handed  down  from  one  generation  to  another."  ^ 

A  special  committee  of  investigation  in  Boston  reported 
the  cases  of  two  women  who  had  been  admitted  to  the  Home 
for  Paupers  eight  and  four  times  respectively  in  six  years, 
and  commented  as  follows :  — 

"  These  two  young  women,  one  of  whom  is  now  at  liberty  on  the 
city  streets,  have  cost  the  city  for  the  board  of  their  five  illegitimate 
children,  still  at  Marcella  Street  Home,  the  sum  of  $1,855.53.  Two 
of  these  children  are  defective  and  will  long  be  a  care  to  the  city. 
Women  like  these  have  no  will-power  of  their  own  ;  they  need  re- 
straint for  their  own  good.  They  are  too  weak  to  withstand  temptation, 
and  should  not  thus  needlessly  be  allowed  to  walk  into  it."  * 

1  Special  Report,  "  Paupers  in  Almshouses,"  p.  11. 

2  "  Pauperism,"  etc.,  pp.  117-118.  3  N.  C.  C,  1879,  p.  195. 

*  Report  Special  Committee  to  inspect  Public  Institutions,  1892,  pp.  28- 
29,40. 


222  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

There  is  probably  no  almshouse  in  the  country  which  has 
not  one  or  more  such  records  to  show. 

The  remedy  for  the  abuse  of  the  privileges  of  admission 
and  discharge  is  investigation  of  the  history  of  all  appli- 
cants for  admission,  a  legal  commitment  and  discharge  by  a 
board  or  committee,  of  which  the  superintendent  and  matron 
shall  be  eoc-qfficio  members.  In  proportion  as  the  irrespon- 
sible and  the  delinquent  are  drafted  off  to  special  institutions, 
the  decent  remainder  may  be  granted  greater  liberty,  such 
as  is  safely  permitted  in  German  almshouses.^ 

A  third  very  prevalent  evil  in  the  management  of  Ameri- 
can almshouses  is  lack  of  a  work  test,  and  a  failure  to 
enforce  proper  discipline  among  the  inmates.  While  in 
some  places  an  energetic  and  specially  capable  official  may 
overcome  all  obstacles  and  enforce  discipline  and  compel 
work,  yet  such  an  undertaking  is  usually  discouraged,  or  at 
least  not  encouraged,  by  the  authorities,  and  the  sentiment 
of  the  community  and  the  nature  of  legislation  are 
usually  such  as  to  make  this  course  difficult.  Under  the 
average  superintendent,  as  a  rule,  it  costs  more  to  set  the 
inmates  of  an  almshouse  to  work  than  their  work  is  worth. 
That  is,  a  given  number  of  inmates  can  be  supported  more 
cheaply  in  idleness  than  when  they  are  put  to  work.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  the  labor  in  the  English  "  workhouse  " 
has  degenerated  so  persistently  into  mere  task-work. 

The  principal  advantage  in  obliging  all  inmates  capable 
of  doing  anything  to  work  consists  in  the  deterrent  influence 
of  this  policy  upon  would-be  applicants.  Its  influence  is 
especially  valuable  in  preventing  tramps  from  using  the 
institution  as  a  winter  club-house.  In  most  almshouses 
the  main  part  of  the  work  that  can  be  offered  to  men  is  on  a 
farm  or  in  the  garden.  This  kind  of  work  is  unavailable  in 
the  winter,  just  at  the  time  when  a  rigid  work  test  is  most 
essential.      In  many  institutions  no  inmate  is  required  to 

1  Lincoln,  N.  C.  C,  1898. 


TBE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  223 

work  unless  he  is  willing  to  do  so.  Some  superintendents 
seem  to  think  it  the  height  of  brutality  to  ask  an  inmate  to 
do  anytliing  against  his  will ;  and  such  service  as  can  be 
utilized  is  usually  obtained  by  offering  extra  rations  of  food 
and  tobacco.  The  amount  of  patience,  ingenuity,  and  energy 
necessary  to  make  such  work  profitable,  and  to  fit  such 
laborers  —  who  for  the  most  part  have  failed  to  fit  any- 
where else  in  the  industrial  world  —  into  some  task  suited 
to  their  limited  capacity,  requires  a  degree  of  ability  and 
moral  fibre  rarely  to  be  found  in  an  almshouse  official. 
Under  the  management  of  Mrs.  Ellen  Armstrong  Weaver, 
the  women  of  San  Francisco  almshouse  reached  a  high  degree 
of  industrijil_efficieiicy,  considering  their  capacities.  A  pros- 
titute nursed  a  bedridden  girl  to  whom  she  had  become 
attached ;  a  deaf  and  difficult  old  woman  washed,  dressed, 
and  fed,  as  if  she  were  a  baby,  a  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind  girl ; 
a  woman  nearly  blind  and  knotted  with  rheumatism  braided 
rag  rugs  ;  a  feeble-minded  Swedish  woman  made  fine  lace; 
a  well-educated  woman  did  fine  sewing  and  read  the  daily 
paper  aloud  to  the  women  in  the  sewing  room.  All  the 
sewing  and  mending  for  the  900  inmates,  and  all  the  clean- 
ing of  the  women's  wards,  was  done  by  the  women. 

From  the  side  of  the  inmates,  work  for  all  is  desirable 
because  they  are  happier  for  having  it.  About  the  only  happy 
persons  one  finds  in  an  almshouse  are  those  who  are  occupied. 
Idleness  conduces  to  restlessness,  sensuality,  bad  temper, 
and  various  forms  of  nervous  disorder.  In  almshouses,  as 
well  as  in  prisons,  insane  asylums,  and  other  kinds  of  in- 
stitutions, discipline  is  doubly  hard  when  the  inmates  are 
idle.  That  idleness  in  and  of  itself  brings  misery,  can  be 
seen  by  any  one  who  passes  through  one  of  our  Soldiers' 
Homes,  especially  the  magnificent  one  for  soldiers  of  the 
regular  army  at  Washington.  So  well  is  this  fact  now 
ascertained  that  special  societies  are  formed  in  the  large 
cities  for  giving  employment  to  the  inmates  of  the  great 


224  American  ChAritiM. 

public  institutions.  Efforts  in  this  direction  were  begun  in 
1893  at  the  City  Hospital  on  Blackwell's  Island,  New  York, 
by  the  County  Visiting  Committee  of  the  State  Charities 
Association,  and  during  the  last  three  years  the  work  has 
been  greatly  enlarged.  Teachers  have  been  sent  to  munici- 
pal hospitals  and  homes  for  the  aged  and  infirm  to  instruct 
the  inmates  in  a  variety  of  handicrafts.  The  effect  of  em- 
ployment in  Ward  L,  a  ward  at  the  home  for  the  aged  and 
infirm  on  Blackwell's  Island,  is  thus  described  :  ^  — 

"  Ward  L  is  the  ward  devoted  to  the  crippled,  paralyzed,  rheumatic, 
epileptic  cripples.  ...  I  found  sixty  men  sitting  there  doing  nothing, 
the  very  picture  of  desolation.  ...  To  speak  a  cheery  word  in  such  an 
atmosphere  seemed  mockery.  .  .  .  There  has  come  about,  in  process  of 
time,  what  I  call  the  transformation  or  the  transfiguration  of  Ward  L, 
and  all  this  has  taken  place  through  the  introduction  of  the  bead  work. 
.  .  .  With  some  persuasion,  they  induced  one  or  two  to  enter  into  the 
work.  The  interest  spread  until  20  out  of  the  60  were  engaged  in  it. 
.  .  .  They  were  impatient  when  the  supply  of  beads  gave  out.  The 
clamor  was  for  more  beads  and  more  looms.  The  whole  character  of 
the  ward  was  changed.  A  joke  was  in  order,  cheeriness  and  good 
will  were  the  rule." 

Many  other  handicrafts  have  been  introduced :  one  man 
illuminates  texts;  another  man  has  earned  a  phonograph 
for  the  ward  by  his  knitting ;  others  make  rafBa  and  osier 
baskets,  Smyrna  rugs,  and  carved  wooden  articles.  The 
disciplinary  and  curative  results  of  the  work  are  highly  en- 
couraging, and  the  avenues  for  the  development  of  the  work 
are  many.  There  ought  to  be  similar  societies,  or  at  least 
similar  work  done,  in  our  rural  communities  ;  if  it  accom- 
plished nothing  else,  it  would  at  least  interest  some  of  the 
influential  classes  in  the  neglected  institutions  of  the 
locality. 

It  is  evident  that  many  of  the  abuses  which  we  have  been 
discussing  will  still  occur  even  when  capable  and  conscien- 

1  Charities,  March  4,  1905 ;  Charities  and  the  Commons,  1906,  May  12, 
November  17. 


THE  ALMSHOUSE  AND  ITS  INMATES.  225 

tious  officials  are  in  charge,  primarily  because  of  neglect  by 
the  general  public.  Professor  Elhvood  suggests  three  lines 
of  effort  toward  correction:  the  visitation  of  almshouses 
by  local  boards  of  visitors,  inspection  of  state  officials,  i.e. 
Board  of  Charities,  and  mandatory  and  prohibitive  legisla- 
tion. The  three  methods  will  naturally  be  evolved  and 
become  effective  in  the  order  indicated.  Following  the 
example  of  English  administration,  there  is  some  tendency 
in  America  to  State  control  of  almshouse  administration. 

If  there  could  be  in  American  almshouses  thorough  investi- 
gation of  all  applicants  for  admission  and  all  applications  for 
dismissal ;  if  within  the  institution  there  could  be  a  thorough 
discipline  and  an  intelligent  and  kindly  application  of  the 
work  test  to  all  capable  of  doing  anything  at  all,  there  would 
be  no  danger  that  almshouses  would  be  overcrowded;  if  in 
addition  there  could  be  a  higher  class  of  officials  in  charge, 
if  the  standard  of  medical  care  and  nursing  could  be  raised 
to  that  of  the  general  hospital,  and  if  some  means  of  reliev- 
ing the  dreary  monotony  of  the  life  were  afforded,  the  alms- 
house would  afford  cleanly  and  honorable  relief  to  the  real 
children  of  misfortune. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PUBLIC   RELIEF   OF   THE   POOR  IN  THEIR  HOMES. 

Outdoor  relief  does  not  have  the  same  meaning  in 
different  places  and  according  to  different  laws.  In  Eng- 
land, it  usually  means  all  relief  that  is  given  outside  of  the 
workhouse.  The  indigent  insane,  consequently,  who  are 
relieved  in  special  institutions,  are  classed  among  those 
receiving  outdoor  relief.  The  same  policy  is  followed  in 
the  parts  of  the  United  States  where  English  precedents 
have  obtained.  For  instance,  in  Massachusetts  what  is 
called  "  State  outdoor  relief "  is  given  to  the  poor  who 
have  no  local  settlement,  such  as  the  sick  and  diseased  who 
are  placed  in  hospitals  ;  and  the  administrative  expenses  of 
the  department  are  reckoned  in  with  the  amount  spent 
for  outdoor  relief ;  consequently,  only  a  small  modicum  of 
the  expenditure  really  goes  in  temporary  aid  to  the  poor 
in  their  own  homes.  Those  who  dispute  about  the  advis- 
ability of  outdoor  relief  create  confusion  by  sometimes  in- 
cluding and  sometimes  excluding  such  relief  when  given 
from  private  funds.  Unless  otherwise  specified,  the  terra  ' 
*'  outdoor  relief,"  as  used  in  this  volume,  will  mean  the  relief  • 
given  from  public  funds  to  the  poor  in  their  homes,  not 
including  medical  relief.  s>v-«^->W  =   t^l^^^  ^kM^     ^-^i  f'*^  ^ 

Outdoor  relief  in  the  United  States  is  given  by  county 
and  township  officials ;  and  from  its  nature  the  bookkeep- 
ing is  likely  to  be  faulty,  especially  as  to  the  number  of 
persons  aided.  In  most  Western  States,  as,  for  instance,  in 
California,  there  is  no  State  official  to  whom  the  county 
and  township  authorities  are  called  upon  to  report.     They 

226 


PUBLIC  BELIEF  OF  POOR   IN   THEIR   HOMES.     227 

publish  no  annual  accounts,  except  sucli  as  may  be  found 
in  the  local  papers  annually  or  semi-annually  ;  and  those 
who  have  undertaken  to  study  the  problem  of  outdoor 
relief  in  these  States  have  had  to  get  their  facts  by  personal 
visits  or  correspondence  with  the  local  officials.^ 

In  twenty-four  States,  relief  of  the  poor  in  their  homes 
is  legally  authorized,  and  several  others  may  authorize  it  at 
discretion  ;  only  a  few  Southern  States  give  outdoor  relief. 
As  pointed  out  in  the  previous  chapter,  its  fundamental 
principle  is  that  the  aid  shall  be  temporary  or  only  partial. 
The  evils  connected  with  this  form  of  relief  have  long  been 
a  matter  of  controversy,  and  in  this  country  the  agitation 
against  it  has  gained  headway  in  almost  direct  proportion 
to  the  density  of  population.  The  flagrant  abuses  of  the 
system  in  the  large  Eastern  cities  led  to  a  concerted  move- 
ment for  doing  away  with  it  from  1878  onward. 

In  order  to  make  clear  the  chief  points  involved,  the 
arguments  for  and  against  the  method  will  be  set  down 
categorically.  The  following  are  the  principal  reasons 
given  by  those  who  believe  in  retaining  it  as  a  fundamental 
part  of  the  relieving  system  :  — 

1.  It  is  the  natural  and  therefore  the  kindly  way  to  help, 
because  it  grows  out  of  the  neighborly  relations  of  rural 
communities.  The  poor  person  is  not  separated  from  relatives 
and  friends,  families  are  not  broken  up,  and  the  receipt  of 
relief  is  not  as  conspicuous  and  consequently  as  disgrace- 
ful as  it  is  where  resort  must  be  had  to  an  institution. 

2.  It  is  ecQnomi^l.  Many  families  can  almost  support 
themselves,  and  it  seems  folly  to  dismember  them  and 
place  the  children  in  refuges  or  board  them  in  private 
families,  and  compel  the  adults  to  resort  to  the  poorhouse, 
when   a   little   relief  given  in  the  home   would   keep   the 

1  In  1880  the  Federal  Census  published  some  fragmentary  statistics  on 
this  subject,  but  none  were  collected  in  1890  or  in  1900;  there  are,  con- 
sequently, no  figures  for  the  country  as  a  whole. 


228  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

family  together  and  enable  them  to  make  part  of  their 
support  by  ordinary  methods.  Mr.  P.  B.  Sanborn,  in  1890, 
cited  the  example  of  INIassachusetts,  where  the  average 
annual  cost  of  each  outdoor  pauper,  or  recipient  of  family 
aid,  was  less  than  $40  a  year,  while  the  cost  for  each  in- 
door pauper  was  $139  ;  and  if  the  interest  on  the  institu- 
tional plant  and  equipment  were  added,  would  be  at  least 
$180  yearly. 

3.  There  are  not  institutions  enough.  The  demand  for 
relief  always  keeps  considerably  in  advance  of  the  supply  ; 
and  it  would  be  uneconomical,  and  in  fact  impossible,  to 
have  buildings  enough  to  accommodate  all  who  should  be 
relieved  from  time  to  time.  Especially  in  the  winter 
months,  a  large  number  of  persons  need  relieving  for  a 
short  time;  and  if  the  almshouses  were  large  enough  to 
accommodate  them  during  the  winter,  there  would  be  great 
buildings  vacant  during  the  summer. 

4.  Individual  priyate^charitiy,  —  the  other  alternative  of 
public  outdoor  relief  —  is  unreliable  and,  in  times  of 
special  distress,  insufficient.  Some  of  the  worthy  poor  are 
likely  to  be  neglected,  while  relief  to  others  will  be  dupli- 
cated, and  these  latter  are  sure  to  be  pauperized. 

This  gives  certainly  a  good  prima  facie  case  for  the  re- 
tention of  a  certain  amount  of  outdoor  relief.  On  the 
other  side,  the  following  considerations  are  urged  :  — 

1.  The  kindness  is  apparent  rather  than  real,  for,  except 
in  the  smallest  communities,  the  administration  is  in  the 
hands  of  officials  who  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  the 
applicant  and  who  can  neither  investigate  nor  discriminate. 
It  has  long  been  a  principle  that  any  work  was  suitable  for 
a  government  to  do  in  proportion  as  it  could  be  reduced 
to  a  routine  and  done  in  a  serai-mechanical  way.  As  the 
work  of  giving  outdoor  relief  should  not  be  done  in  this 
semi-mechanical  way,  it  is  unsuitable  for  public  officials  to 
undertake. 


/      ^     /   U  J 

PUBLIC  RELIEF  OF  POOR  IN  THEIR  HOMES.     229 

2.  It  tends  to  increase  the  number  of  applicants,  because 
it  is  less  manifestly  disgraceful  than  the  indoor  system, 
and  is  much  more  pleasant  to  receive.  The  saving  in  cost 
for  a  single  person  supported  is  more  than  made  up  by  the 
additional  number  of  persons  that  will  claim  to  require 
relief.  It  is  a  suflBciently  pleasant  form  of  being  relieved, 
so  that  if  no  requirement  except  indigency  is  made,  a  large 
number  of  persons  will  become  duly  indigent  in  order  to 
qualify  for  the  receipt  of  alms. 

3.  Corruption  of  politics  invariably  results  from  the  sys- 
tem, and  the  whole  tone  of  the  population  is  likely  to  be 
lowered.  In  many  cases,  it  is  unworthy  motives  favoring 
the  retention  of  the  system  that  makes  it  difficult  to  secure 
its  abolition. 

4.  Where  outdoor  relief  has  been  given  lavishly,  as  in 
England  at  some  times  and  places,  it  has  simply  resulted 
in  reducing  the  rate  of  wages,  the  amount  given  in  relief 
being  reckoned  on  as  a  possible  resource,  so  that  the 
employee  would  accept  lower  wages  than  would  otherwise 
have  been  possible. 

5.  It  is  not  educational  either  to  the  recipient  or  the 
official  donor.  In  the  one  it  tends  to  destroy  thrift  and 
self-restraint;  in  the  other  it  encourages  a  spirit  of  com- 
placent generosity  without  any  corresponding  personal 
sacrifice  and  exercise  of  judgment.  Any  charitable 
method  which  does  not  develop  both  sympathy  and  dis- 
crimination is  about  equally  injurious  to  the  administrator 
and  the  recipient. 

A  comparison  of  the  two  general  lines  of  argument  for 
and  against  public  outdoor  relief  makes  it  apparent  that 
those  who  favor  the  system  of  outdoor  relief  usually  argue 
upon  theory,  or  draw  their  facts  from  rural  communities, 
where  the  problems  are  comparatively  simple,  and  where 
abuses  are  readily  checked.  They  generally  lay  the  empha- 
sis upon  institutional  care  as  the  alternative  method,  while 


230 


AMEBIC  A  N^  CHARITIES. 


as  a  matter  of  practice  in  communities  where  public  relief 
in  homes  does  not  exist,  the  alternative  is  outdoor  relief 
by  organized  charity. 

The  opponents  of  the  system,  on  the  other  hand,  point 
to  the  facts,  especially  the  experience  in  dispensing  outdoor 
relief  in  large  cities.  The  most  instructive  experiments 
that  have  been  made  in  this  matter  in  the  United  States 
have  consisted  chiefly  in  cutting  off  peremptorily  the  supply 
of  outdoor  relief.  The  historic  illustration  of  this  sort  is 
the  city  of  Brooklyn,  first  reported  to  the  National  Con- 
ference of  Charities  in  1879  by  Seth  Low.  The  statistics 
of  outdoor  relief  in  Brooklyn  from  1870  to  1884  are  given 
in  Table  LIV. 

TABLE   LIV. 
Brooklyn  Poor  Relief,  1870-1884.* 


Population. 

Outdoor 
Relief. 
Persons 
Aided. 

Indoor 
Relief. 
Persons 

Aided. 

Cost  of 
Outdoor 
Relief. 

Asbocia'iion  fob 
Improving  the 

Condition  of  the 

Poor.    Amount 

Distributed. 

1870 

396,000 

38,170 

8,642 

$163,437 

$21,851 

1871 

414,000 

35,658 

9,234 

141,208 

22,011 

1872 

432,000 

22,803 

8,999 

95,771 

21,821 

1873 

450,000 

25,033 

7,487 

100,555 

22,211 

1874 

468.000 

30,411 

7,343 

134,935 

23,466 

1875 

485,000 

35,850 

7,923 

116,967 

24,366 

1876 

501,000 

44,208 

9,155 

98,815 

23,000 

1877 

518,000 

46,330 

9,208 

141,137 

20,818 

1878 

534,000 

46,093 

9,700 

57,054 

18,824 

1879 

551,000 

stopped 

10,231 

stopped 

16,640 

1880 

567,000 

8,730 

14,774 

1881 

684,000 

10,347 

17,716 

1882 

601,000 

11,121 

18,050 

1883 

619,000 

11,678 

22,246 

1884 

639,000 

11,190 

19,061 

♦From  Devine,  "  Public  Outdoor  Relief,"  Charititu  Ilci-Uic,  vol.  viii  ,  jj.  1S3. 


PUBLIC  RELIEF  OF  POOR   IN    THEIR   HOMES.     231 

From  these  figures  it  is  seen  that  between  1872  and  1877, 
inclusive,  the  number  of  beneficiaries  increased  100  per  cent. 
In  1877  one  person  in  every  sixteen  of  the  population  was 
receiving  outdoor  relief.  The  description  of  the  abuse  is 
given  in  Mr.  Low's  own  words  :  — 

"  The  system  had  become  furthermore  a  sore  on  the  body  politic. 
The  friends  of  politicians  received  help  whether  needy  or  not,  and  so 
the  system  was  perpetuated.  Families  with  voters  were  the  first 
served.  The  '  outdoor  relief '  appropriations  became  a  vast  political 
corruption  fund.  Large  numbers  of  the  population  were  taught  to 
rely  on  the  county  help,  and  sought  it  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
the  county  gave  it.  One  woman  received  help  under  nine  different 
names.  Many  sold  what  they  received.  Men  came  from  the  country 
every  autumn  to  live  at  the  expense  of  the  city  during  the  winter, 
because  the  city  was  offering  a  premium  to  the  idle  to  come  there  and 
live  in  idleness.  The  poor  did  not  get  the  chief  benefit  of  increased 
appropriations.  Most  of  it  went  to  underlings  connected  with  the 
work  of  distribution.  In  every  way,  and  in  every  direction,  the  effect 
was  hopelessly  bad. 

"In  1875  the  Commissioners  of  Charity  employed  paid  visitors  to 
investigate  the  cases  of  applicants  for  relief  ;  and  it  cost  sixty  cents  to 
distribute  every  dollar's  worth  of  food  or  fuel.  This  was  so  monstrous 
that  public  clamor  compelled  a  change.  In  1876  the  visiting  system 
was  abandoned,  and  all  applicants  were  compelled  to  take  oath  that  they 
were  paupers.  As  may  be  imagined,  the  result  was  horrible.  More- 
over, many  who  lived  in  New  York  availed  themselves  of  such  easy 
opportunity  to  be  fed  by  Brooklyn.'" 

At  the  urgency  of  an  association  formed  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  State  Charities  Aid  Association,  between  200 
and  300  volunteer  visitors  were  set  at  the  work  of  inves- 
tigation in  1876-1877.  As  a  result,  the  visitors  were  con- 
vinced that  many  families  habitually  applied  for  relief 
merely  because  their  neighbors  were  receiving  it,  and  they 
recommended  the  abolition  of  outdoor  relief,  by  stages, 
if  necessary.  The  Commissioners  of  Charities  did  not 
accept  the  recommendation,  but  in  1878,  the  whole  system 

IN.  C.  C.,1879,  pp.  202ff. 


232  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

having  been  discovered  to  be  illegal,  it  was  suddenly  dis- 
continued. 

To  the  surprise  of  all,  no  increased  demand  fell  upon  the 
private  relief  agencies  during  the  winter  following,  no  suf- 
fering appeared,  and  the  numbers  in  almshouses  did  not  in- 
crease. In  fact,  the  figures  in  Table  LIV.  show  a  steady 
decrease  of  relief  per  capita  in  the  years  following.  This 
was  due,  no  doubt,  partly  to  the  return  of  business  prosper- 
ity after  the  panic  of  1873 ;  but  it  is  believed  that  it  also 
represents  to  some  extent  a  recovery  from  the  pauperism 
induced  by  lavish  and  indiscriminate  public  relief. 

The  experience  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  which  has  re- 
cently applied  to  the  administration  of  outdoor  relief  the 
principles  of  organized  charity,  is  even  more  instructive 
than  that  of  Brooklyn.  Under  the  law  of  1853  in  Indiana, 
poor  relief  was  given  by  the  trustees  of  more  than  1000 
townships  ;  the  amount  was  left  to  their  judgment,  and  they 
might  in  their  own  discretion  send  the  applicants  for  relief 
to  the  county  poor  asylum  or  grant  them  relief  in  their 
homes  or  transportation  to  the  next  township.  The  Boards 
of  County  Commissioners  were  also  permitted  to  give 
annual  allowances  and  medical  aid.  Under  this  system, 
very  serious  abuses  grew  up.  The  township  trustee,  elected 
by  popular  vote,  was  inexperienced,  poorly  paid,  and  subject 
to  political  pressure  and  the  demands  of  friends ;  the 
County  Commissioners  often  gave  when  the  trustee  refused. 
Under  this  system,  the  average  amount  paid  in  outdoor 
relief  between  1890  and  1895  was  f  550,000  annually.  The 
first  step  toward  reform  was  a  law  secured  by  the  State 
Board  of  Charities  in  1894,  requiring  accurate  statistics  of 
the  relief  given  to  be  reported  to  a  State  officer.  The  in- 
formation obtained  was  startling:  one  in  every  31  of  the 
State's  inhabitants  was  receiving  relief,  the  proportion  in 
different  counties  varying  from  1  in  13  to  1  in  208 ;  in  some 
of  the  richest  counties  the  number  aided  was  1  in  16  to  1 


PUBLIC  RELIEF  OF  POOR  IN  THEIR  HOMES.     233 


in  20.  As  a  result  of  agitation  on  the  basis  of  this  informa- 
tion, a  law  was  passed  in  1890,  which  is  said  to  be  the  first 
application  of  charity  organization  principles  to  an  entire 
State.  The  law  provided  for  the  investigation  of  each  case 
by  the  overseer  of  the  poor ;  for  securing  the  help  of  the 
friends  and  relatives  of  the  applicant ;  for  compelling  the 
able-bodied  members  of  the  family  to  work  ;  for  refusing 
transportation  to  all  except  the  sick,  aged,  injured,  or 
crippled,  and  then  only  in  the  direction  of  his  legal  residence; 
for  cooperation  with  private  relief  societies ;  for  limiting 
the  relief  power  of  the  County  Commissioners,  and  the 
amount  of  temporary  aid.^  The  law  has  been  strengthened 
and  improved  in  recent  years,  and  the  results  are  shown  in 
the  following  comparative  summary  for  1895  and  1905  :  — 

1895  1905 

Cost  of  relief  to  each  state  inhabitant |.29  fl.lO 

Highest  per  capita  cost 68  .29 

Lowest  per  capita  cost 06  .Oo 

Counties  in  which  per  capita  cost  was  below  10  cents      .           2  49 

Counties  in  which  per  capita  cost  was  above  30  cents      .         35  0 

The  relation  of  the  total   cost   to   taxation  is  shown  in 

Table  LV. 

TABLE   LV. 

Outdoor  Relief  in  Indiana. 


Total 

Townships 

Levy 

Levy 

Total  Cost 

Number 

No  Tax 

UNDER 

5  Cents 

Outdoor  Relief. 

Townships. 

Levy. 

5  Cents. 

AND  Over. 

1898 

1375,206 

1014 

64 

515 

435 

1899 

320,667 

1014 

50 

607 

357 

1900 

209,956 

1016 

146 

644 

226 

1901 

236,723 

1014 

154 

620 

240 

1902 

266,876 

1015 

181 

611 

223 

1903 

245,745 

1015 

233 

617 

165 

1904 

281,105 

1017 

224 

649 

144 

1905 

249,884 

1016 

289 

681 

146 

1  For  full  text  of  law,  see  Indiana  Bulletin  of  Charities,  etc.,  March,  1905. 


234  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

The  sudden  decrease  of  outdoor  aid  from  $375,206  in 
1898  to  $209,956  in  1900,  shown  in  this  table,  would 
naturally  have  been  reflected  in  an  increased  population  in 
the  county  poor  asylums.  Indeed,  when  the  law  of  1899 
was  passed,  there  was  considerable  anxiety  felt  as  to  the 
adequacy  of  the  poor  asylums  to  receive  the  number  that 
would  be  thrown  into  them.  Yet,  in  spite  of  a  decrease  of 
34  per  cent  in  outdoor  relief  between  1899  and  1900,  the 
number  in  asylums  also  decreased  from  3133  to  3096,  and 
from  year  to  year  since,  as  the  administration  of  outdoor 
relief  has  become  more  business-like,  the  number  in  county 
asylums  has  not  increased,  although  there  has  been  a  con- 
siderable increase  of  general  population.  The  State  Board 
of  Charities  reports  an  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the 
poor  themselves,  although  the  administration  of  the  law  is 
not  yet  wholly  free  from  abuses.^ 

An  example  of  outdoor  relief,  well  administered,  but  still 
held  to  be  injudicious  and  harmful,  is  found  in  the  town 
of  Brookline,  a  suburb  of  Boston,  The  administration  of 
relief  was  in  the  hands  of  certain  women  trustees,  who  gave 
outdoor  relief  with  a  work  test  during  a  series  of  years. 
Previous  to  1883  full  or  partial  support  was  given  to  150 
persons.  These  were  warned  three  months  in  advance  that 
no  pauper  rent  would  be  paid  after  May  1,  but  that  the 
almshouse  would  be  open  to  any  one  needing  shelter.  On 
the  1st  of  May,  22  adults  and  7  families,  numbering  33  per- 
sons, became  self-supporting ;  10  adults  and  9  families, 
consisting  of  39  persons,  assumed  the  payment  of  their  own 
rent,  asking  only  partial  support  from  the  town,  and  in  no 
case  was  the  offer  of  the  almshouse  accepted.  The  total  ex- 
penditure for  poor  relief  for  the  town  fell  from  $8487.50 
in  1882  to  $7794.49  in  1883,  and  in  1893  was  $7218.28.^ 
Mrs.  Codman  says  :  — 

1  For  full  account,  see  Indiana  Bulletin  of  Charities,  etc.,  March,  1906, 
which  contains  statistics,  maps,  and  bibliography. 

2  Pamphlet  by  Joyce,  pp.  3-5. 


PUBLIC  RELIEF  OF  POOR   IX   THEIR  HOMES.      235 

"I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  whole  tone  of  the  popula- 
tion has  been  raised,  and  that  to  'come  upon  the  town,'  at  one  time 
regarded  as  the  natural  and  proper  thing  to  be  done,  is  now  looked 
upon  as  a  disgrace.  .  .  .  Self-respect  and  independence  have  been  en- 
couraged, and  the  race  of  paupers  within  our  limits  has  very  nearly 
disappeared."  i 

There  is  no  well-authenticated  instance  where  outdoor 
relief  has  been  stopped  and  any  considerable  increase  either 
of  private  charity  has  been  required,  or  any  marked  increase 
of  the  inmates  of  institutions  has  occurred.  The  only  sug- 
gestion that  has  ever  been  made  as  to  evil  results  from  the 
experiment  in  Brooklyn  is  that  the  number  of  dependent 
children  increased  after  outdoor  relief  had  ceased  to  be 
given.  But  the  number  of  dependent  children  also  increased 
in  other  parts  of  New  York,  where  no  change  in  outdoor 
relief  administration  had  occurred,  indicating  that  it  was  a 
change  in  the  laws  affecting  dependency  among  children  that 
produced  the  increase.  As  administered  in  the  United 
States,  it  is  found,  apparently,  that  public  outdoor  relief 
educates  more  people  for  the  almshouse  than  it  keeps  out  of 
it,  and  that  therefore  it  is  neither  economical  nor  kindly. 

It  is  equally  evident  that  institutional  care  alone  will 
never  be  sufficient,  even  if  desirable,  to  provide  for  all  the 
poor.  The  question  raised  is  not  between  public  outdoor 
and  institutional  relief,  but  between  public  and  private  out- 
door relief.  It  must  be  confessed  that  the  abuses  resulting 
from  private  charity  have  often  been  quite  as  serious  as 
from  public  relief.  Moreover,  the  evils  of  public  relief,  as 
illustrated  in  the  cases  already  described,  merely  show  that 
uninvestigated  public  aid  is  harmful,  but  do  not  prove  that, 
if  carefully  administered,  it  might  not  be  preferable  to 
individual  charity. 

1  Mrs.  Codman,  N.  C.  C,  1891,  p.  49.  It  should  he  said  that  Brookline 
is  a  thriving  and  fashionable  residence  suburb  of  Boston,  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  population  added  from  year  to  year  has  not  been  such  as  to 
lead  one  to  expect  a  proportionate  increase  of  pauperism. 


236  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

There  is  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  relief  in  homes  is,  for 
those  on  the  verge  of  dependence,  the  ideal  method;  and  an 
almost  equal  agreement  that  it  is  difficult  to  administer,  and 
must  be  limited  in  amount.  Whether  it  can  best  be  sup- 
plied by  the  State  or  by  private  charity,  can  only  be  answered 
by  experience.  Frederick  Almy,  of  the  Buffalo  Charity 
Organization  Society,  presented  at  the  National  Conference 
in  1900  a  table  of  the  forty  largest  cities  in  the  United 
States,  first,  in  the  order  of  least  public  relief,  and  second, 
in  the  order  of  least  private  relief.^  The  results  are  repre- 
sented in  the  diagram  on  the  opposite  page. 

Mr.  Almy's  conclusions,  as  shown  by  the  figures  and  the 
diagram,  are  that  a  city  which  gives  no  public  outdoor  re- 
lief must  give  a  considerable  amount  of  private  outdoor 
relief ;  and  vice  versa,  when  there  is  no  private  relief,  public 
relief  increases.  It  seems  clear  that  public  relief  checks 
private  charity,  for  of  the  ten  cities  that  give  liberal  public 
outdoor  relief,  there  is  not  one  that  gives  liberal  private 
relief,  and  of  the  ten  that  give  liberal  private  outdoor  relief, 
there  is  not  one  that  gives  liberal  public  relief. 

The  dotted  curved  line  of  the  diagram  shows  that  private 
relief  averages  little  more  than  one-third  the  cost  of  public 
relief.  The  average  per  capita  cost  of  the  cities  which  de- 
pend wholly  upon  private  relief  is  Of  cents,  and  of  those 
which  depend  wholly  upon  public  relief,  17^  cents.^ 

Although  it  has  been  shown  that  liberal  public  relief 
tends  to  check  private  charity,  it  does  not  appear  that 
abundant  private  relief  reacts  in  any  degree  to  diminish 
public  outdoor  relief.     In  the  city  of  Boston,  where  the  per 

1  About  one-half  of  the  cities  having  over  200,000  population  give  no 
public  relief:  viz.,  New  York,  Phihidelphia,  Brooklyn,  St.  Louis,  Balti- 
more, San  Francisco,  New  Orleans,  Washington,  Kansas  City,  and 
Louisville. 

2  For  details  and  discussion  from  which  these  conclusions  are  extracted, 
see  two  valuable  articles  by  Almy  in  Charities  Review,  vol.  ix.,  1899, 
Nos.  1  and  2 ;  and  articles  in  N.  C.  C,  1900,  pp.  13i  ft. 


PUBLIC  RELIEF  OF  POOR  IN   THEIR   HOMES.      237 


DIAGRAM  VI. 

Relation  of  Private  to  Public  Outdoor  Relief.* 


«  ®       S3      ^ 

The  heavy  line,  starting  at  the  top  on  the  left,  represents  public 
outdoor  relief,  which  stands  at  thirty -four  cents  per  capita  at  Syracuse 
and  falls  to  nothing  at  San  Francisco  and  the  eight  following  cities. 
The  related  movement  of  private  outdoor  relief  is  shown  by  the  dotted 
line  starting  at  the  bottom  on  the  left.  Thus,  where  public  relief  of 
thirty-four  cents  per  capita  is  given  (Syracuse),  the  private  relief  stands 
at  zero  ;  where  public  relief  is  thirteen  cents  (Boston,  Scranton, 
Omaha),  the  corresponding  amounts  of  private  relief  given  vaiy, 
standing  approximately  at  twenty-four  cents  in  Boston,  zero  in  Scran- 
ton, and  four  cents  in  Omaha.  The  name  of  each  city  is  printed 
*  Almy,  Charities  Review,  vol.  ix.,  p.  31,  1899, 


238 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


capita  expenditure  for  private  charity  is  probably  higher 
than  anywhere  in  the  country,  and  where  public  relief  is 
administered  with  intelligence  and  thoroughness,  it  does  not 
decline  perceptibly  in  amount.  In  Table  LVI.  the  total 
amounts  expended  for  public  outdoor  relief  are  shown  for 
a  period  of  years. 

TABLE  LVI. 

Outdoor  Relief,  Boston,  1877-1907.* 


Tear  Ending 

Amount. 

Number  of 
Families. 

Amount 
PER  Family. 

Population. 

Apr.  30,  1877 

$80,341.89 

6,627 

$12.12 

341,919(1875) 

"       "    1880 

56,777.36 

4,277 

13.28 

362,839 

"      "   1885 

64,292.96 

4,132 

15.55 

390,393 

"      "    1890 

56,414.96 

2,509 

22.48 

448,477 

Jean.  .31,  1895 

75,900.47 

4,006 

18.95 

496,920 

"      "    1900 

64,502.42 

2,8.36 

22.53 

560,892 

"      "   1901 

63,298.30 

2,707 

23.38 

"      "    1902 

64,391.41 

2,637 

24.42 

.  .  . 

"      "    190.3 

63,499.14 

2,420 

26.24 

"    ."   1904 

70,041.91 

2,346 

29.86 

"      "    1905 

67,668.86 

2,248 

30.10 

620,000 

"      "   1906 

68,148.89 

2,202 

30.84 

"      "    1907 

66,079.13 

2,060 

32.07 

*  Reports  of  Board  of  Overseers  of  the  Poor. 

Between  1880  and  1907  the  number  of  families  declined 
from  4277  to  2060,  while  the  per  capita  relief  rose  from 
.'j?13.28  to  $32.07.     This  would  indicate  a  policy  of  making 

directly  under  the  points  in  the  lines  showing  the  amounts  at  which 
the  public  and  private  relief,  respectively,  stand  in  that  city.  Dividing 
the  cities  into  four  groups  of  ten  each  (excepting  Boston,  which  will 
be  explained  later)  and  averaging  the  private  relief  of  each  group, 
four  points  are  obtained.  Connecting  these  by  a  curved  line,  the 
result  (slightly  idealized)  is  the  dotted  line  shown  on  the  diagram. 
This  may  be  taken  to  represent  the  average  movement  of  private 
relief  in  relation  to  the  decrease  of  public  relief. 


PUBLIC  RELIEF  OE  POOR  IN  THEIR  HOMES.      239 

relief  more  adequate,  but  does  not  suggest  that  public  out- 
door relief  is  economical.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
Overseers  of  the  Poor  are  an  excellent  body  of  officers,  the 
opinion  of  the  leading  charity  workers  in  Boston  is  almost 
unanimous  against  outdoor  relief.  They  hold  that  private 
charities  could  do  the  work  as  well,  that  public  relief  is  too 
easily  assumed  to  be  a  right,  and  that  in  the  matter  of  relief 
the  Overseers  do  not  supply  either  ideals  or  inspiration. 

The  effect  of  careful  investigation  upon  the  amount  of 
relief  given  is  illustrated  by  the  history  of  outdoor  aid  in 
Buffalo.  In  1876  Buffalo,  then  a  city  of  140,000  inhabitants, 
was  aiding  14,375  persons  at  a  cost  of  $112,054,  or  .799  cents 
per  capita  of  the  population.  This  extravagant  outlay  was 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  establishment  of  a  Charity 
Organization  Society,  which  has  now  for  thirty  years,  contin- 
uously, investigated  the  applications  for  city  relief.  Table 
LVII.  (p.  240)  shows  in  detail  the  expenditures  and  the 
remarkable  decline  in  the  amount  of  public  outdoor  relief. 

This  table  shows  that  more  than  10  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Buffalo  were  receiving  outdoor  city  aid  in  1876, 
and  less  than  1  per  cent  in  1907 ;  3778  families  were  aided 
in  1876;  only  775  in  1907.  The  first  great  falling  off  from 
$112,000  in  1876  to  $29,000  in  18S0  was  due  to  the  substitu- 
tion of  investigated  for  uninvestigated  city  aid  ;  the  second 
drop  from  $118,000  in  1898  to  $38,000  in  1902  was  due  to  a 
vigorous  attempt  to  develop  constructive  work  as  a  substi- 
tute for  charity  among  those  who  were  conceded  to  be  poor. 
Mr.  Almy,  of  the  Buffalo  Charity  Organization  Society, 
in  commenting  on  these  figures,  says,  that  the  chief  differ- 
ence between  charity  organization  outdoor  relief  and  city 
outdoor  relief  is  that  the  former  always  carried  with  it  a 
plan  and  follow-up  work,  while  city  aid  has  neither.  He 
adds :  "  I  have  never  heard  of  any  one  from  the  city  poor 
office  interviewing  a  landlord,  or  the  holder  of  a  mortgage, 
looking  for  employment,  overhauling  the  plumbing  which 


240 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


TABLE  LVII. 
Outdoor  Relief  in  Buffalo,  1875-1907.     C.  0.  S.  Records. 


Year. 

Population 

OF 

Buffalo 

Number  of 
Families 
eeceiving 
City  Aid. 

Total 
Expenditure 
FOR  Outdoor 

Kelief.* 

Expenditure 
PER  Capita 

of 
Population. 

1875 

136,426 

§73,277 

.5371 

1876 

140,168 

3,778 

112,054 

.7995 

1877 

143,911 

2,030 

100,637 

.6993 

1878 

147,653 

1,967 

61,489 

.4164 

1879 

151,396 

1,589 

41,784 

.2759 

1880 

155,137 

1,139 

29,296 

.1888 

1881 

165,872 

1,089 

42,849 

.2583 

1882 

176,607 

1,058 

32,360 

.1832 

1883 

187,342 

1,048 

36,496 

.1948 

1884 

198,077 

1,395 

40,557 

.2047 

1886 

208,812 

1,857 

52,700 

.2523 

1886 

219,547 

1,247 

47,889 

.2181 

1887 

230,284 

1,355 

45,195 

.1962 

1888* 

41,924* 

1889 

41,402 

1890 

255,664 

43,522 

.1706* 

1891  T 

1892  J 

.  .  . 

•  .  . 

79,728  t 

.  .  . 

1893 

2,861 

67,336 

1894 

3,368 

81,492 

1895 

2,764 

102,200 

1896 

3,876 

82,870 

1897 

4,106 

108,918 

1898 

3,699 

118,803 

1899 

.  .  . 

2,188 

104,107 

1900 

362,387 

1,686 

64,586 

.1832 

1901 

1,296 

49,312 

1902 

1,102 

38.851 

1903 

.  .  . 

1,092 

34,473 

1904 

1,179 

36,115 

1905 

1,102 

33,246 

1906 

400,000 

880 

32,099 

.0824 

1907 

775 

31,418 

*  Totals  from  18S7  to  1S9T  do  not  include  "  sundries." 

t  This  figure  $79,728  covers  18  months,  from  January  1,  1S91,  to  June  30,  1892. 


PUBLIC  RELIEF  OF  POOR  IN  THEIR  HOMES.       241 

causes  disease,  or  visiting  a  family  after  aid  stopped."  In 
a  paper  at  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correc- 
tions in  1904,  Mr.  Almy  suggested  tliat  the  overseers  of  the 
poor  in  cities  and  towns  should  try  the  experiment  of  district 
committees  and  volunteer  cooperation  for  investigation  and 
constructive  work,  or  even  attempt  the  Elberfeld  system 
outright. 

Charity  workers  in  the  smaller  cities  are  generally  in 
favor  of  private  rather  than  public  relief,  even  where  they 
feel  that  the  community  is  not  yet  quite  prepared  to  abolish 
it.  In  the  rural  and  sparsely  populated  districts  of  the 
West  especially,  the  county  system  of  local  government  adds 
to  the  difficulty  of  administration.  In  the  smaller  area  of  a 
township  the  officials  are  measurably  well  acquainted  with 
the  people,  at  least  until  the  population  becomes  dense,  and 
the  people  scrutinize  public  expenditures  quite  carefully ; 
but  under  the  county  system,  until  the  population  is  large 
enough  to  compel  the  employment  of  special  officials,  the 
writing  of  orders  for  outdoor  relief  is  frequently  left  to  the 
individual  supervisors  or  commissioners.  As  a  rule,  each 
one  attends  to  all  applications  from  the  district  from  which 
he  is  elected,  and  the  approval  of  the  entire  board  is  a  mere 
formality.  The  payments  are  sometimes  made  in  money, 
sometimes  in  orders  on  stores,  and  sometimes  relief  is  given 
in  goods  purchased  by  the  authorities  under  contract.  Ob- 
viously this  latter  method  lends  itself  least  readily  to  abuse. 
Where  orders  are  given  on  stores,  the  goods  selected  by  the 
beneficiary  are  often  absurdly  unsuitable  to  his  conditions,^ 

1  See  Hartford  Report,  pp.  xix,  xx,  and  Table  VII.  On  594  orders,  132 
articles  were  drawn,  among  which  were  canned  lobster,  green  peas,  pie, 
pineapple,  canned  salmon,  and  tobacco.  There  was  also  some  e^^dence 
that  the  orders  were  used  in  trade  and  payment  of  debts.  This  system 
prevailed  until  recently  in  the  urban  county  of  Alameda,  California.  In 
1905  three  supervisorial  districts  placed  the  investigation  of  out-relief 
applicants  in  the  hands  of  the  Associated  Charities,  with  the  result  that 
the  amount  disbursed  fell  from  $22,930  in  1904  to  $10,157  in  1906. 


242  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

and  in  the  State  of  California  such  orders  are  frequently- 
traded  for  liquor. 

It  is  not  without  significance  that  the  movement  to  do 
away  with  public  outdoor  relief  has  kept  pace  with  the  de- 
velopment of  charity  organization.  The  older  type  of  pri- 
vate outdoor  relief — unsystematic,  purely  palliative  —  is 
rapidly  being  replaced  by  the  constructive  ideal  of  organized 
charity.  Of  this  ideal,  relief  —  even  adequate  relief  —  is 
the  smaller  part,  since  it  aims  to  restore,  develop,  and  edu- 
cate the  family.  The  excuse  for  outdoor  relief  is  the  typi- 
cal dependent  widow  with  young  children;  but  in  such  a 
case,  though  public  relief  may  pension  the  family,  it  does  not 
do  the  constructive  work  of  a  district  agent  and  a  friendly 
visitor. 

In  all  large  centres  of  population  there  are  certain  soci- 
eties which,  together  with  the  churches  and  private  indi- 
viduals, do  a  considerable  amount  of  relief  work.  These 
agencies  dispense  an  amount  which  is  not  large  as  compared 
with  the  total  public  expenditures  for  the  relief  of  the  poor, 
but  which  is  sufficient  to  aecomy)lish  a  great  deal  of  good  or 
evil  in  the  populations  among  which  it  is  scattered.  Those 
who  insist  that  public  outdoor  relief  should  be  abolished, 
believe  that  these  private  associations,  in  conjunction  with 
the  Charity  Organization  Societies,  should  care  for  the  cases 
to  whom  the  alternative  of  going  to  the  almshouse  would  be 
an  unmerited  hardship.  They  insist  that  the  private  associ- 
ations are  more  economical,  sympathetic,  and  discriminating, 
and  since  their  treasuries  are  not  replenished  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  taxation,  but  from  free-will  offerings,  the  poor  can- 
not make  demands  upon  theiii  as  of  right.  The  experience 
of  Chalmers  has  often  been  pointed  to  as  showing  that  pub- 
lic relief  can  be  swept  away  entirely,  and  private  benevo- 
lence take  its  place.  While  those  who  would  imitate  him 
would  not  go  as  far  as  he  did,  they  do  ask  for  the  substitu- 
tion of  private  for  public  outdoor  relief. 


PUBLIC  RELIEF  OF  POOR   IN   THEIR   HOMES.      243 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  private  associations  are  best 
fitted  to  deal  with  incipient  dependency.  But  at  just  what 
point  the  line  should  be  drawn  between  public  and  private 
charity,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  If  the  State  should  assume  the 
care  of  those  who  need  control  as  well  as  support,  as  Miss 
Richmond  has  suggested,  then  outdoor  relief  would  be  left 
to  private  undertaking. 

On  the  whole,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  advisability 
of  giving  outdoor  relief  is  chiefly  a  question  of  administra- 
tion. Under  the  Elberfeld  system  in  Germany,  and  with 
the  great  care  exercised  by  the  Bureaux  de  Bienfaisance  of 
France,  it  has  been  successful.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  a  larger  share  of 
administrative  awkwardness  than  any  other  civilized  popu- 
lation. Nearly  all  the  experiences  in  this  country  indicate 
that  outdoor  relief  is  a  source  of  corruption  to  politics,  of 
expense  to  the  community,  and  of  degradation  and  increased 
pauperization  to  the  poor.  Even  at  its  best,  it  has  not  been 
found  a  satisfactory  method  of  relieving  distress.  In  the  new 
communities  of  the  West  it  has  seemed  to  be  almost  neces- 
sary ;  but  it  is  always  to  be  watched  with  care,  to  be  kept  at 
a  minimum,  and  in  large  cities  to  be  definitely  prohibited. 

But  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  private  charities  are 
just  as  open  to  abuse  as  public  ones,  though  not  to  exactly 
the  same  abuses.  In  places  where  the  State  has  relegated 
much  of  the  work  of  relieving  the  poor  to  private  benevo- 
lence, and  especially  to  the  church,  abuses  have  grown  up 
of  as  great  magnitude  as  those  that  preceded  the  reform  of 
the  English  poor-law  in  1834,  while  at  Elberfeld  the  present 
excellent  public  system  originated  in  a  breakdown  of  the 
private  system.  There  is  a  possibility  of  success  or  failure 
by  either  method ;  but  experience  seems  to  indicate  that  in 
the  United  States,  at  the  present  time,  private  is  much  safer 
and  more  helpful  than  public  outdoor  relief,  and  indeed 
that  the  latter  should  usually  be  discontinued. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  UNEMPLOYED   AND    THE    HOMELESS   POOR. 

In  all  times  of  industrial  depression,  the  number  of  the 
unemployed  is  apt  to  be  exaggerated.  During  the  depression 
of  1873-1878  it  was  alleged  that  there  were  300,000  mechan- 
ics out  of  employment  in  Massachusetts ;  and  the  statement 
went  unchallenged  for  more  than  a  year,  while  figures  then 
available  would  have  shown  that  there  were  only  318,000 
men  in  the  State  engaged  in  the  mechanical  pursuits,  and 
the  investigation  made  later  by  the  State  Bureau  of  Labor 
indicated  that  the  number  of  unemployed  mechanics  was 
less  than  30,000.  During  the  depression  following  the 
crisis  of  1893,  the  trade-union  estimates  put  the  number  out 
of  work  at  about  4,500,000;  more  conservative  estimates,  at 
about  1,000,000.  Keturns  made  to  Bradstreet's,  the  results  of 
which  were  published  in  December,  1893,  show  that  in  119 
cities  801,055  men,  with  about  1,956,110  persons  dependent 
on  them,  were  out  of  employment.  Carlos  C.  Closson  found 
in  sixty  cities  523,080  idle  men,  an  estimate  sufficiently 
close  to  Bradstreet's  return  for  the  same  cities  to  make  it 
probable  that  these  figures  actually  reflected  the  facts. 

A  careful  investigation  of  enforced  idleness  was  made  by 
the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Labor  during  the  depression 
of  1885.  There  were  during  that  year,  in  Massachusetts, 
816,470  persons  engaged  in  gainful  occupations  ;  of  these, 
241,589  were  unemployed  during  part  of  the  year.  The 
time  lost,  if  we  consider  only  the  principal  occupation  of 
each  individual,  was  82,744  years ;  but  many  persons,  when 
unable  to  Avork   at   their   principal   occupation,  had  some 

244 


THE  UNEMPLOYED   AND   THE  HOMELESS  POOR.     245 

subsidiary  work.  Making  the  proper  deductions  for  the 
time  thus  put  in,  the  net  absolute  loss  of  working  time 
amounted  to  78,717.76  years.  If  this  loss  were  averaged 
among  the  241,590  who  lost  a  certain  amount  of  time,  the 
loss  per  man  was  3.91  months.  The  IMassachusetts  Census 
of  1895  showed  that  27  per  cent  of  all  workmen  (in  the 
factory  towns  from  39  to  62  per  cent)  were  idle  some  portion 
of  the  year. 

While  these  figures  indicate  a  state  of  things  less  dismal 
than  would  be  inferred  from  some  of  the  exaggerated  state- 
ments, yet  the  actual  loss  is  sufficiently  great.  The  Fed- 
eral Census  of  1890,  which  is  now  believed  to  have  been 
incomplete  as  to  unemployment,  showed  that,  of  all  workers 
over  ten  years  of  age,  15  per  cent  were  unemployed  during 
some  part  of  the  year ;  the  Census  of  1900  found  22  per 
cent  were  idle  a  part  of  the  year,  while  39  per  cent  of  the 
male  workers  were  unemployed  from  four  to  six  months  of 
the  year. 

Until  there  is  more  accurate  discrimination  between  the 
different  classes  of  the  unemployed,  all  statistics  regarding 
them  must  be  somewhat  ambiguous.  It  is  not  easy  for  the 
ordinary  observer  to  distinguish  the  honest  unemployed 
from  the  tramp  and  the  semi-criminal.  The  men  who  get 
their  living  by  looking  for  work  and  failing  to  find  it  —  as 
Dr.  Gladden  describes  them  —  are  the  most  in  evidence 
always  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  genuine  unemployed 
are  almost  invariably  the  second-rate  and  least  competent 
workmen,  the  first  discharged,  and  therefore  in  process  of 
deterioration.  But  until  a  clear  distinction  is  drawn,  in 
practice  as  well  as  in  theory,  between  the  unemployable 
and  unemployed,  slight  progress  will  be  made  in  meeting 
the  needs  of  either  class. 

Geoffrey  Drage  divides  the  unemployed  into  (1)  those 
temporarily  without  employment,  and  (2)  the  chronically  un- 
employed who  may  be  either  unskilled  and  inefficient  casual 


246  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

laborers  tending  to  become  unemployable  or  the  chronically 
unemployable.  Percy  Alden,  while  drawing  the  general 
line  between  (1)  genuine  workers  unable  to  find  work,  and 
(2)  the  unfit,  physically  and  morally,  subdivides  the  latter 
class  into  its  comp(ment  parts, — the  deficient,  the  semi-crim- 
inal, and  the  incorrigibly  lazy.  The  deficient,  in  their  turn, 
may  be  separated  into  the  aged  —  often  prematurely  so  from 
bad  conditions  and  bad  habits ;  the  weak  and  maimed,  that  is, 
the  "  handicapped  " ;  the  epileptic ;  and  the  drunkard.  Pro- 
vision is  made  to  a  slight  extent  for  this  relatively  small 
and  miscellaneous  body  of  incompetents  in  'almshouses, 
special  employments  for  the  handicapped,^  epileptic  colo- 
nies, and  inebriate  asylums. 

The  largest  part  of  the  problem  of  the  unemployable  in 
past  times,  as  well  as  at  the  present,  has  to  do  with  the 
sturd}^  beggar,  the  "  hobo,"  or  tramp.  In  England  it  was 
estimated  years  ago  that  there  were  30,000  persons  con- 
tinually on  the  tramp;  and  General  Booth  estimated  — 
probably  overestimated  —  the  number  of  the  homeless  for 
the  United  Kingdom  at  105,000.  If  we  cross  the  English 
Channel  and  go  to  Germany,  we  hear  the  same  complaint  of 
an  extraordinary  number  of  wandering  beggars.  A  great 
system  of  friendly  inns,  provident  wood  yards,  and  labor 
colonies  has  there  been  established  to  provide  for  them. 
The  same  complaint  of  the  curse  of  vagrancy  comes  from 
Russia,  and  the  consular  report  on  vagrancy  shows  that  it 
prevails  almost  everywhere. 

If,  instead  of  extending  our  inquiries  geographically,  we 
had  extended  them  historically,  we  should  have  found  the 
same  complaint  of  an  exceptionally  large  number  of  wan- 
dering beggars  made  in  nearly  every  age  of  which  we  have 
record.  But  in  recent  times  the  means  of  cheap  transporta- 
tion, and  the  consequent  breakdown  of  the  passport  system 

1  Special  Employment  Bureau  for  the  Handicapped,  see  Charities  and 
the  Commons,  vol.  xv.,  pp.  582  ff. ;  vol.  xvi.,  1906,  pp.  470  ff. 


THE   UNEMPLOYED  AND   THE  HOMELESS  POOR.     247 

and  of  settlement  laws,  have  given  a  new  character  to  vaga- 
bondage. It  is  increasingly  easy  for  men  to  get  away  from 
their  duties  to  families  and  neighbors,  and  it  is  getting  to 
be  easier  to  wander  than  to  work.  "  Mobility  of  labor " 
is  a  good  thing,  but  it  is  having  some  unfortunate  results. 

In  the  United  States  not  only  in  thickly  populated  dis- 
tricts, but  throughout  the  Far  West,  where  work  is  abundant 
and  wages  high,  there  is  a  constant  procession  of  able-bodied 
men  along  the  lines  of  railroad  begging,  intimidating,  steal- 
ing, and  destroying  property  ;  some  of  them  willing  to  work 
for  short  periods  at  high  rates  and  not  without  skill,  but 
thoroughly  inoculated  with  the  wander  disease.  In  times 
of  industrial  depression,  the  number  of  this  class  is  greatly 
increased  by  the  addition  of  discharged  workingmen  — 
drinkers  first,  good  single  men  next,  married  men  last  — 
who  tend  to  become  incapable  of  steady  industry.  In  1893 
Professor  McCook  estimated  the  number  of  tramps  in  the 
United  States  at  46,000  ;  in  1895,  at  86,000  ;  and  their  cost 
at  seventeen  millions.  In  1905  Major  Pangborn,  represent- 
ing the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  estimated,  on  the  basis 
of  the  total  number  of  trespassing  tramps  annually  killed  on 
all  railroads,  that  not  less  than  430,000  infested  the  railways 
in  that  year ;  and  that  their  cost,  in  damage  to  property 
and  in  police  protection,  was  not  less  than  eighteen  and  a 
half  millions  per  year.^ 

As  a  consequence  of  the  lack  of  distinction  between  the 
wilful  vagrant  and  the  genuine  unemployed,  the  one  is  not 
properly  repressed,  nor  is  the  other  adequately  helped. 
The  ordinary  citizen  vacillates  between  the  easy  dole  and 
a  disbelief  that  any  able-bodied  man  in  so  rich  a  country 
can  really  need  help.  There  are  four  tolerably  distinct 
ways  in  which  various  communities  in  the  United  States 
have  tried  to  deal  Avith  the  homeless  and  wandering  poor. 
The  first  and  favorite  way  is  to  get  rid  of  them  as  promptly 
1  N.  C.  C,  1907,  "  Discussion  on  Vagrancy,"  pp.  73-74. 


248  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

as  possible  by  sending  them  on.  Nearly  every  large  town 
makes  an  appropriation  for  the  transportation  of  paupers, 
and  the  poor-law  officers  of  rural  communities  also  devote 
some  money  to  the  same  purpose.  Such  funds  are  fre- 
quently spent  without  any  adequate  investigation.  The 
officials  having  authority  simply  consider  whether  it  will  be 
cheaper  to  ship  a  given  person  to  a  place  where  he  says  he 
wishes  to  go,  or  to  take  care  of  him.  In  the  smaller  cities 
and  in  rural  communities  it  is  the  common  custom  for  jus- 
tices to  order  vagrants  to  move  on  within  twenty -four  hours, 
the  consequence  of  which  is,  that  each  community  receives  in 
turn  what  the  others  get  rid  of. 

The  obvious  objection  to  this  manner  of  providing  for 
the  homeless  poor  is  that  it  does  not  provide  for  them  ;  it 
is  simply  a  way  of  shifting  burdens  from  one  neighborhood 
to  another.  But  each  community,  while  recognizing  this 
fact,  thinks  itself  bound  to  keep  up  the  foolish  work,  so 
that  it  may  not  serve  as  the  dumping-ground  for  the  poor 
of  all  the  adjacent  communities. 

The  second  way  of  dealing  with  the  homeless  poor  is  to 
punish  them  as  misdemeanants  —  "  vag.  'em,"  as  the  police 
say  ;  that  is,  arrest  them  as  vagrants  and  commit  them  to 
the  jail  and  workhouse.  This  is  the  old  English  method 
of  dealing  with  what  were  called  "  sturdy  beggars."  But 
in  the  early  days  it  was  not  a  comfortable  jail  to  which 
tramps  were  committed,  and  wanderers  who  could  give  no 
account  of  themselves  were  flogged  out  of  the  boundaries 
of  the  parish  in  which  they  were  apprehended.  They  were 
also  liable  to  be  branded,  have  their  ears  cut  off,  or  be 
treated  in  some  similar  fashion  which  would  now  be  re- 
garded as  barbarous.  The  experience  of  Massachusetts  in 
1880  and  the  years  following  well  illustrates  the  limitations 
of  such  repressive  legislation.  In  1880  the  daily  average 
of  tramps  lodged  was  461 ;  severe  tramp  laws  were  passed, 
and  in  1881  the  average  fell  to  105 ;  then  enforcement  began 


THE   UNEMPLOYED  AND   THE  HOMELESS  POOR.     249 

to  be  relaxed,  and  the  number  rose  in  1886  to  nearly  the 
same  height  as  in  1880.  Other  repressive  legislation  was 
passed,  the  number  fell,  fluctuated,  and  finally  in  1893  was 
again  at  the  original  figure. 

This  method,  if  rigidly  applied,  may  cause  tramps  to  dis- 
appear for  a  time ;  but  there  is  always  a  doubt  in  the  minds 
of  the  community  as  to  whether  or  not  many  cases  of  honest 
destitution  are  not  dealt  with  too  harshly.  Such  stringent 
laws  are  very  apt  to  become  dead  letters,  and  the  evil  at 
which  they  were  aimed  flourishes  while  they  are  in  abeyance. 

A  third  very  common  way  of  dealing  with  the  homeless 
poor  is  to  give  them  indiscriminately  the  relief  they  ask. 
If  a  man  rings  the  door-bell  and  asks  for  food,  give  him 
some ;  if  he  asks  the  price  of  a  night's  lodging,  let  him  have 
it ;  if  men  apply  for  lodgings  at  the  station-house,  fit  up  a 
room  and  let  them  fill  it  as  full  as  they  can  fill  it  and  still 
live  ;  start  a  free  lodging-house,  and  supplement  the  lodgings 
with  free  meals.  If  a  man  comes  when  it  is  cold  and  asks 
admission  to  the  almshouse,  take  him  in,  give  him  comfort- 
able shelter  for  the  winter,  and  then,  when  spring  comes,  let 
him  depart.  This  was  the  method  employed  in  mediaeval 
monasteries,  and  is  still  more  or  less  practised  in  most  of 
our  American  cities.  The  trouble  with  this  method  is  that 
"  we  can  have  as  many  tramps  as  we  will  pay  for." 

A  Western  farm-hand  once  gave  an  account  of  his  ex- 
perience during  three  months  when  he  had  wandered  about 
with  tramps  as  a  tramp.  After  telling  of  the  way  in  which 
he  got  a  living,  and  of  the  many  sharp  practices  resorted 
to,  he  concluded  in  a  meditative  and  almost  puzzled  way, 
"  Oh,  it  was  a  good  deal  of  fun,  but  somehow  or  other  I 
didn't  like  it."  He  had  stood  at  the  parting  of  the  ways. 
It  had  been  in  his  power  to  become  a  laborer  or  to  become 
a  tramp,  and  he  chose  the  better  part.  He  now  has  con- 
siderable property  and  a  family.  Now,  if  the  persons  to 
whom  he  applied  had  been  a  little  more  liberal  and  equally 


250  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

thoughtless,  if  the  jails  to  which  he  was  liable  to  have  been 
committed  had  been  a  little  more  comfortable,  if  in  the  cities 
he  happened  to  visit  he  had  found  a  few  more  institutions 
for  furnishing  free  lodgings  and  free  soup,  his  choice  might 
have  been  different.  His  case  is  not  a  typical  one,  for  the 
average  man  does  not  consciously  decide,  but  rather  drifts 
into  the  life  of  vagabondage  through  following  the  line  of 
least  resistance.  In  this,  as  in  other  cases,  indiscriminate 
giving  is  to  be  deplored,  not  so  much  because  it  wastes 
money  as  because  it  corrupts  men. 

The  fourth  method,  which  is,  in  fact,  a  modification  and 
improvement  upon  the  one  just  described,  is  to  give  indis- 
criminately, but  never  to  give  without  applying  the  work 
test.  It  is  substantially  the  method  of  the  English  Casual 
Ward  and  of  the  Boston  Wayfarers'  Lodge  in  the  United 
States.  In  Boston  each  man  must  take  a  warm  bath  on 
entering,  and  receives  a  bed  and  a  wholesome  breakfast,  in 
return  for  which  he  cuts  and  saws  wood  for  one  or  two  hours. 
In  Philadelphia  the  Society  for  Organizing  Charity  has 
placed  in  charge  of  its  two  Wayfarers'  Lodges  a  charity 
worker  of  experience,  who  gives  his  whole  time  to  personal 
work  among  the  men,  making  every  effort,  especially  for 
the  younger  ones,  to  get  them  out  of  the  wayfaring  life  into 
regular  work  or  back  into  home  surroundings.^ 

On  reviewing  these  methods  of  dealing  with  the  homeless 
poor  already  mentioned,  it  is  apparent  that  each  is  adapted 
to  certain  classes  of  applicants :  some  should  be  given 
direct  relief,  some  should  be  punished,  and  some  should  be 
sent  to  other  places.  There  are  tramps  and  tramps  ;  any 
method  that  enables  us  to  deal  with  them  properly  must 
enable  us  to  discriminate  among  them. 

1  A  tabular  view  of  the  methods  of  eradicating  vagrancy  in  the  United 
States  is  given  in  N.  C.  C,  1903,  p.  415.  In  1905-1906  the  Philadelphia 
lodges  handled  4100  men,  70  per  cent  of  whom  were  native-born  and  under 
40  years  of  age ;  55  per  cent  were  unskilled,  ;30  per  cent  more  only  "  some- 
what skilled" ;  23,000  lodgings  and  56,000  meals  were  worked  for. 


THE   UNEMPLOYED  AND   THE  HOMELESS  POOR.     251 

The  most  recent  and  thorougli  discussion  of  the  vagrancy 
problem  is  that  by  Orlando  F.  Lewis  before  the  ISTational 
Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections  in  1907.  Mr.  Lewis 
considers  wood  yards,  lodges,  and  city  lodging-houses  good 
and  necessary  as  means  of  temporary  relief,  but  thinks  they 
do  not  materially  diminish  the  army  of  tramps.  Such 
methods  merely  drive  the  vagrants  from  one  community  to 
another  and  do  not  solve  the  national  problem.  He  presents 
a  constructive  programme  for  dealing  with  the  vagrant  un- 
employable who  should  be  first  attacked.  Briefly  stated 
this  is  as  follows  :  ^  — 

The  treatment  of  vagrancy  should  be  deterrent,  and  to 
that  end  the  laws  against  tramping  should  be  strengthened, 
enforced  strictly,  and  made  national  in  their  scope.  Trespass 
on  railroads,  especially,  should  involve  sentence  to  imprison- 
ment at  hard  labor,  which  must  be  secured  by  the  cooperation 
of  railway  and  toAvn  authorities,  at  the  expense  of  the 
State  ;  and  sentences  should  be  cumulative.  Vagrants  should 
not  be  lodged  in  police  stations,  but  in  a  municipal  lodging- 
house,  under  the  control  of  the  State  Board  of  Health ;  or 
if  in  almshouses,  the}^  must  be  in  separate  quarters.  Com- 
mon lodging-houses  should  also  be  carefully  supervised  by 
the  Health  Board  in  respect  to  ventilation,  sanitation,  and 
cleanliness ;  and  all  charitable  lodgings  should  be  models  of 
their  class.  In  each  State  should  be  established  at  least 
one  compulsory  labor  colony  and  one  hospital  for  inebriates. 
Finally,  there  should  be  an  exchange  among  charitable 
societies  of  important  facts  regarding  vagrants,  and  the  State 
Board  of  Charity  should  exert  themselves  actively  to  secure 
proper  legislation  and  treatment. 

In  1905  the  State  of  JNIassachusetts  passed  laws  embody- 
ing the  more  importaut  of  these  principles,  which  resulted 

1  Almost  all  of  the  remedies  proposed  by  Mr.  I-ewis  had  been  proposed 
singly  by  others  at  some  time,  but  he  has  the  distinction  of  bringing  them 
together  and  unifying  them  into  a  programme  for  immediate  action. 


252  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

in  a  decrease  of  60  per  cent  in  tramps  lodged  in  almshouses 
and  of  90  per  cent  of  those  lodged  in  towns.  In  Chicago 
the  establishment  of  a  municipal  lodging-house,  and  the 
prohibition  of  police  stations  as  lodgings  for  tramps,  resulted 
in  a  decline  of  the  number  of  free  lodgings  from  92,591  to 
11,097.  This  lodging-house  was  able  to  find  casual  employ- 
ment for  about  30  per  cent  of  its  lodgers. 

Mr.  Lewis's  programme  further  includes  the  cooperation 
of  special  railway  and  State  police  officers,  with  the  town 
police  and  city  mendicancy  police  officers  in  the  enforcement 
of  vagrancy  laws.  "What  can  be  done  by  a  single  experiment 
to  repress  and  cure  local  vagrancy  may  be  illustrated  by 
the  mendicancy  squad  of  the  New  York  Charity  Organi- 
zation Society.  This  was  a  small  body  of  "  plain  clothes  " 
men  detailed  to  the  Society  to  arrest  beggars.  In  1904-1905 
they  arrested  18G3  persons,  of  whom  GO  per  cent  were  not 
physically  defective  but  normally  able-bodied  persons.  Of 
these  1476  were  committed  by  the  magistrates  to  some 
institution  (generally  penal).  This  work  resulted  in  driving 
from  the  city  the  "  yegg  "  or  criminal  mendicant  who  had 
formerly  thriven  there.  The  constructive  work  of  the 
Mendicancy  Committee  consisted  in  helping  such  of  the 
beggars  as  showed  some  hope  of  reform  to  become  self- 
supporting.  ^     They  also  published  a  confidential  bulletin 

1  Two  stories  will  serve  to  show  the  character  of  the  constructive  work 
of  the  committee:  (1)  "Twist,  so  known  in  the  criminal  world  because 
of  his  club  feet,  is  now,  one  year  after  the  operation  which  made  him  a 
normal  physical  being, — apparently, — settled  in  his  old  home  earning 
$13.50  per  week  in  his  father's  mill.  This  man,  for  fourteen  years  a  thief 
and  a  beggar,  endured  terms  in  State  Prison  and  workhouses  with  the 
stoicism  of  the  criminal,  but  could  not  successfully  withstand  the  kindness 
which  recognized  in  him  a  human  being  with  possibilities  for  good." 

(2)  "X,a  young  German  of  honest  parentage,  who,  disappointed  in  lack 
of  success  in  establishing  liimself  in  congenial  employment  from  the  first, 
took  to  the  hazardous  chances  of  the  '  road,'  lost  both  legs,  and  became  a 
beggar.  Two  years  have  elapsed  since  his  arrest  by  a  social  police,  and 
to-day,  after  honorable  service  in  a  social  Settlement,  he  has  commenced 
business  in  a  Southern  city."  —  Report  N.  Y.  C.  O.  S.,  1903-1904. 


«^ 


THE   UNEMPLOYED  AND   THE  HOMELESS  POOE.     253 

for  the  use  of  other  cities  in  identifying  the  professional 
beggar  and  impostor  who  travels  from  city  to  city.^ 

However  useful  such  isolated  efforts  may  be  to  a  par- 
ticular community,  the  immediate  result  is  to  increase  the 
same  evils  in  adjoining  States  and  cities.  The  need  for  a 
national  movement  to  suppress  vagrancy  is  now  recognized, 
and  much  may  be  hoped  from  the  work  of  the  National 
Vagrancy  Committee  appointed  in  1907.  It  is  expected 
that  the  first  effort  of  this  body  will  be  devoted  to  securing 
cooperation  among  railway,  city  and  town  authorities,  and  ^ 
boards  and  societies  of  public  and  private  charities  for  better  .^  ^ 
legislation  and  enforcement.  ^  .••-,?=»4    t 

The  machinery  necessary  for  dealing  properly  with  the  C=«^  ^ 
local  problem  of  the  homeless  poor  can  be  adapted  to  any  ^-^  t 
community  with  comparative  ease.  It  consists  of  an  in-  ^  \ 
stitution  or  place  where  the  work  test  can  be  rigidly  applied,  ^^  ^ 
and  where  a  man  can  earn  his  support  pending  an  investi-  5*^  t 
gationof  his  case.  Secondly,  it  includes  facilities  for  giving  ^  ? 
meals  and  lodgings ;  thirdly,  facilities  for  bathing  and 
for  disinfecting  clothing ;  and  fourtlily,  some  person  to  in- 
vestigate the  case  of  each  applicant  thoroughly,  and  to  act 
as  circumstances  require.  If  the  applicant  claims  to  have 
a  residence,  or  to  be  able  to  get  work  somewhere  else,  or 
if  he  admits  having  relatives  and  friends  elsewhere,  or 
whatever  may  be  his  story,  he  should  be  sent  to  the  wood 
yard  to  earn  his  living  while  it  is  being  investigated.  No 
man  should  be  assisted  to  leave  the  city  unless  it  appears 
on  some  authority,  additional  to  his  own,  that  he  would  be 
better  off  in  the  place  to  which  he  is  sent.  Many  men, 
after  telling  their  story  and  taking  the  card  which  would 
admit   them   to   the   lodging-house   and  wood  yard,  never 

1  The  Police  Commissioner  of  New  York  City  discontinued  the  mendi- 
cancy squad  in  February,  VM6,  on  the  ground  of  economy,  The  arrests 
fell  off  50  per  cent  in  the  year  following. 

2  Charities  and  the  Commons,  vol.  xviii.,  1907,  pp.  342  ft. 


'■»•  «, 


( 


254  AMERICAN  CHABITIES. 

present  it.  Some  are  conscious  that  their  story  will  not  bear 
investigation,  and  some  do  not  care  to  work  while  it  is 
being  investigated.  All  cases  of  honest  destitution,  whether 
the  applicant  be  a  boy,  a  man,  or  a  woman,  may  be  dealt 
with  in  the  same  kindly  but  thorough- going  fashion  ;  and  the 
result  is  help  for  the  deserving  and  disappointment  for  the 
loafer  and  impostor. 

Many  of  those  interested  in  the  establishment  of  munici- 
pal lodging-houses  have  thought  that  the  whole  tramp 
problem  would  be  solved  by  their  institution ;  but  there  are 
certain  difficulties  attendant  upon  their  management  not 
usually  reckoned  with.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  find  anything  that  is  really  profitable  for  the 
men  to  do.  If  they  saw  wood,  they  come  in  competition 
with  steam-saws,  and  if  they  break  stone,  with  steam  stone- 
crushers.  In  some  places  it  was  found  that  it  cost  more 
per  cord  to  supply  the  district  with  sawed  wood  from  the 
yard  in  connection  with  the  municipal  lodging-house  than 
it  did  to  get  sawed  wood  direct  from  the  contractor.  Other 
societies  find  continual  difficulty  in  disposing  of  their  wood 
supply  in  competition  with  the  regular  dealers.  Where 
every  stick  of  wood  that  a  man  saws  costs  a  little  more 
than  if  the  man  did  nothing  at  all,  we  have  manifestly  not 
reached  any  real  solution  of  the  difficulty.  It  is  just  this 
impossibility  of  finding  remunerative  work  for  labor  which 
is  on  the  whole  incompetent  that  has  induced  the  English 
workhouses  to  give  pure  task-work  to  the  inmates  of  their 
casual  wards.  But  work  which  is  avowedly  task-work  is 
not  only  unprofitable,  but  it  is  almost  as  degrading  to  the 
man  who  does  it  as  to  receive  relief  for  which  he  makes  no 
return.  Its  only  justification  is  its  deterrent  influence.  It 
is  profitable  because  it  reduces  the  number  of  applicants. 
Where  wood  yards  have  been  made  to  pay  expenses,  it  is 
because  some  man  has  donated  to  the  work  sufficient  mana- 
gerial ability  to  make  up  for  the  poor  quality  of  the  labor 
and  methods  used. 


THE   UNEMPLOYED  AND   THE  HOMELESS  POOR.    255 

Another  reason  why  the  lodging-house  and  wood  yard 
does  not  solve  all  the  difficulty,  is  that  its  management 
seems  to  have  an  inveterate  tendency  to  become  mechan- 
ical. Interest  is  lost  in  the  individuals;  and  they  are 
ground  through  the  regular  routine  without  any  real 
attempt  being  made  to  get  hold  of  the  helpable,  and  to 
punish  habitual  and  degraded  vagrants.  As  a  conse- 
quence, there  comes  to  be  a  very  considerable  army  of 
intermittently  drunken  loafers  who  rely  upon  the  lodging- 
house  and  wood  yard  as  a  place  where  they  can  always  get 
something  to  eat  and  a  lodging  for  the  night.  They  are 
not  unwilling  to  work  for  a  short  time  and  in  a  perfunctory 
way.  The  multiplication  of  this  class,  or  at  least  the  tolera- 
tion of  it  as  it  multiplies,  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  serious 
evils  connected  with  the  Naturalverpflegungsstatsionen  in 
Germany.^  Where  small  account  is  taken  of  individuals, 
men  can  come  repeatedly  to  the  lodging-house  in  spite  of  a 
rule  limiting  their  residence  there  to  not  more  than  three 
days  at  any  one  time. 

The  chief  advantage  of  the  wood-yard  and  lodging-house 
arrangement  is  that  it  gives  the  citizens  of  the  locality  an 
opportunity  to  refuse  all  unknown  applicants  for  relief,  and 
to  send  them  to  the  lodging-house.  More  than  that,  if  there 
be  but  one  of  these  lodging-houses  in  a  city,  or  if  those  that 
exist  cooperate  one  with  another,  it  is  possible  to  stop  that 
drifting  about  from  one  place  to  another  in  the  same  town, 
which  enables  a  vagrant  to  stay  there  through  the  whole 
winter.  This  centralization  is  one  of  the  very  best  things 
resulting  from  the  establishment  of  municipal  lodging- 
houses. 

The  machinery  described  is  necessary  machinery ;  but  it 

will  not  run  itself,  and  it  will  not  solve  the  tramp  problem. 

It  gives  the  basis  for  proper  action,  but  does  not  insure  it. 

As  already  suggested,  proper  action  can  come  only  after 

1  Aldea,  "  The  Unemployed, "  pp.  55-56. 


256  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

there  has  been  a  careful  discrimination  between  cases. 
Thorough  dealing  with  the  tramp  problem  in  the  United 
States  is  impossible  until  we  have  reformed  our  infamous 
system  of  county  jails.  At  present,  a  man  who  is  sen- 
tenced for  vagrancy  is  usually  sent  for  from  ten  to  ninety 
days  to  a  warm  and  pleasant  jail,  where  he  can  play  cards, 
chew  tobacco,  discuss  crime,  and  tell  indecent  stories  with 
his  peers.  To  threaten  a  vagabond  with  arrest  under  such 
circumstances,  is  merely  a  promise  to  do  him  a  favor. 

There  are  probably  resources  sufficient  in  almost  any 
American  community  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  the 
homeless  poor  efficiently  and  completely,  if  they  could  only 
be  organized  so  as  to  meet  the  genuine  needs.  The  trouble 
has  been  that  here,  as  in  England,  we  have  vacillated  be- 
tween excessive  severity  and  excessive  leniency,  oftener 
erring  on  the  latter  side  than  on  the  former,  until  the 
tramp  has  become  an  institution,  and  appears  to  think  that 
he  has  an  inalienable  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  vagabondage. 

If  there  were  the  proper  punitive  methods  in  operation 
for  removing  the  tramp  and  the  beggar  summarily  to  in- 
stitutions where  they  must  work,  a  large  amount  of  chari- 
table energy  and  resource  would  be  released  to  assist  the 
honest  unemployed.  Under  normal  industrial  conditions 
and  except  in  a  few  congested  districts,  lack  of  employment 
in  America  will  usually  be  found  connected  with  some  per- 
sonal deficiency  of  character,  or  with  incompetence  and 
lack  of  adaptability,  although  there  is  always  a  number  — 
relatively  small  —  who  are  out  of  work  through  no  fault  of 
their  own. 

There  are  those  who,  being  engaged  for  short  periods 
only,  have  finished  one  job  and  not  yet  entered  on  another. 
Others  belong  to  trades  in  which  the  volume  of  work  fluctu- 
ates, because  of  seasonal  changes,  most  commonly  during  a 
year,  but  sometimes  during  longer  periods,  as  in  the  ship- 


THE   UNEMPLOYED  AND   THE  HOMELESS  POOE.    257 

building  trades,  and  sometimes  during  periods  of  less  than 
a  year.  Still  others  are  economically  superfluous,  from  too 
many  learning  such  trades,  from  changes  in  trade  processes, 
or  from  local  shifting  of  industries.  The  best  1000  unem- 
ployed members  of  a  given  group  of  trades  at  any  given 
time  are  less  efficient,  whether  from  physical,  moral,  or  in- 
tellectual defects,  than  the  worst  1000  who  are  in  actual 
employment  at  the  same  time.  To  a  very  large  extent, 
manifestly,  the  problem  is  an  industrial  rather  than  a 
charitable  one.  It  is  only  when  non-employment  results 
in  destitution  that  its  treatment  is  germane  to  our  present 
purposes. 

During  the  years  immediately  succeeding  the  crisis  of 
1893,  special  relief  work  for  the  destitute  unemployed  was 
carried  forward  on  a  scale  never  before  known  or  needed  in 
this  country.  The  work  of  the  New  York  East  Side  Relief 
Committee  and  of  the  Commercial  Club  of  Indianapolis  il- 
lustrate the  most  satisfactory  of  these  emergency  under- 
takings.^ The  East  Side  Relief  Committee  was  made  up 
of  persons  of  experience  in  charity,  settlement,  and  educa- 
tional agencies  in  the  locality  in  which  relief  was  required. 
In  order  not  to  draw  the  unemployed  from  other  districts, 
it  avoided  advertising  and  distributed  tickets  entitling  the 
recipient  to  relief  in  work,  through  trade-unions,  churches, 
and  charities.  Workers  were  paid  in  money,  and  no  food 
stations  were  opened.  Several  classes  of  work  were  pro- 
vided :  street-cleaning  in  cooperation  with  the  city  street- 
cleaning  commissioner ;  tailoring  in  shops,  the  products  of 
which  were  sent  partly  to  the  cyclone  sufferers  in  South 
Carolina,  and  partly  distributed  among  the  destitute  through 
churches  and  charitable  societies  ;  sewing,  knitting,  mat  and 
quilt  making  for  women  at  home ;  renovating  tenement 
houses  (with  the  permission  of  landlords)  by  whitewashing 

1  Details  will  be  found  in  CharitiPf!  Review,  vol.  iii.,  1894,  pp.  323  ff. ; 
Deviue,  "Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  412  ff, 


258  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

and  removal  of  refuse.  About  5000  men  and  women  were 
employed  at  a  total  cost  of  $118,000. 

In  Indianapolis  the  undertaking  took  quite  different 
form.  The  first  step  consisted  in  registration  of  the  un- 
employed and  temporary  relief  in  cooperation  with  the 
Charity  Organization  Society.  Tramps  were  arrested  and 
sent  to  the  workhouse,  where  a  stone-pile  provided  work. 
In  January,  1894,  a  food  market  was  organized  in  two 
departments,  —  one  for  registration  and  investigation,  the 
other  to  issue  food.  A  corps  of  visitors  investigated  the 
claim  to  residence  and  the  need  of  the  applicant,  and  when 
found  bona  fide,  an  account  book  was  issued  to  him.  In 
this  book  was  an  agreement,  wliich  the  applicant  was  re- 
quired to  sign,  that  he  would  pay  on  demand,  in  labor,  at 
a  specified  price,  for  all  supplies  charged  to  his  account.  A 
little  later  when  arrangements  for  providing  work  on  the 
streets,  in  excavation,  etc.,  had  been  made,  the  applicant 
was  given  a  card  directing  him  to  report  to  the  Street 
Commissioner  for  work.  Credits  for  work  entitled  him  to 
supplies  for  his  family  at  the  food  depot. 

As  the  Indianapolis  Committee  were  obliged  to  give 
credit  for  rations  for  some  time  before  work  was  required, 
they  found  shortly  that  there  was  a  disposition  on  the  part 
of  many  men  not  to  Avork,  and  of  women  to  draw  rations 
as  "  widows  "  and  "  deserted  wives."  This  compelled  the 
enforcement  of  a  rule  of  '^  no  work,  no  rations,"  and  a 
requirement  of  labor  in  washing  for  the  women. 

The  organization  of  emergency  relief  in  such  times  of 
financial  depression  is  sufficiently  beset  with  difficulties, 
but  there  is  always  some  time  in  which  to  anticipate  and 
provide  for  the  most  serious  of  these  if  the  community  will 
avail  itself  of  experienced  social  workers.  In  the  emer- 
gency created  by  flood,  cyclone,  fire,  and  earthquake,  the 
problem  is  much  more  serious,  because  relief  must  be  in- 
stantly organized,  and  often  by  persons  with  slight  expert- 


THE   UNEMPLOYED  AND   THE  HOMELESS  POOR.     259 

ence  in  dealing  with  destitution.  A  considerable  portion 
of  any  hitherto  self-supporting  population  will  be  so  demor- 
alized by  the  disaster  as  to  expect,  if  not  demand,  relief 
without  work.  The  greatest  problem,  therefore,  as  soon  as 
the  necessary  food  and  shelter  have  been  provided  for  the 
immediate  need,  is  how  to  prevent  those  who  have  been 
self-supporting  from  deteriorating  through  hardships,  dis- 
location, and  lack  of  work  ;  and  how  to  restore  to  normal 
self-support  those  who  have  been  temporarily  demoralized  by 
free  relief.  In  such  emergencies  it  is  obvious  that  the  assist- 
ance of  trained  workers  from  other  localities,  who  have  had 
experience  in  dealing  with  such  a  situation,  is  of  the  high- 
est value.  It  is  of  almost  equal  importance  that  such 
experience  should  be  carefully  registered  as  history,  and 
that  ultimately  these  histories  should  be  the  basis  on  which 
shall  be  formulated  some  principles  of  emergency  relief  to 
guide  all  workers  in  subsequent  disasters. 

For  the  guidance  of  those  devising  special  relief  in 
times  of  financial  depression  resulting  in  widespread 
unemployment,  certain  general  principles  have  already 
emerged  as  the  result  of  English  and  American  experi- 
ence. The  successive  steps  and  the  general  methods 
may  be  briefly  summarized :  — 

1.  Registration  and  investigation  of  all  applicants  in 
order  to  determine  the  degree  of  need,  and  to  enforce  a 
requirement  of  residence.  Without  this  precaution,  relief 
of  any  sort  will  tend  to  draw  outsiders  to  the  place  where 
it  is  offered. 

2.  Work  of  at  least  two  classes — more,  if  possible  — 
should  be  provided.  Frequently  the  work  available  is  too 
heavy,  or  is  unsuitable  for  men  who  are  not  strong,  or  who 
have  been  accustomed  to  indoor  trades.  In  this  respect  the 
kinds  of  work  offered  by  the  New  York  East  Side  Commit- 
tee are  particularly  suggestive. 

3.  Wages  and  hours  should  be  as  nearly  as  possible  at 


260  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

the  standard  rate ;  if  the  pay  is  too  low,  the  families  will 
deteriorate ;  if  at  normal  rates,  some  men  will  not  make  the 
effort  to  get  back  into  regular  industry,  and  outsiders  will 
try  to  press  in. 

4.  Good  superintendents,  in  sufficient  number  to  control 
the  employees,  and  to  select  and  place  them  at  work  ac- 
cording to  character  and  ability,  are  absolutely  necessary. 

5.  Relief  works  should  be  necessary  and  productive, 
and  it  is  better  if  the  work  can  be  made  continuous  for 
some  time  for  each  individual. 

6.  Whenever  public  authorities  or  private  persons  see 
an  opportunity  to  do  at  unusually  low  rates,  because  of  the 
hard  times,  work  that  needs  doing,  they  ought  to  push  such 
work,  on  business  and  not  relief  principles,  and  in  the  gen- 
eral following  of  this  policy  is  to  be  found  a  radical  remedy 
for  trade  depression.  If  it  can  be  work  such  as  would  not 
otherwise  be  done  at  all,  or  not  immediately,  it  will  inter- 
fere the  less  with  regular  employments.  Mr.  Percy  Alden 
urges  that  every  municipality  should  keep  in  readiness  a 
certain  amount  of  public  work  which  can  be  given  to  the 
selected  unemployed.  The  London  County  Council,  in  a 
report  in  1903,  suggested  that  there  were  several  thousand 
public  buildings,  the  cleaning  and  renovation  of  which  would 
afford'  employment  in  the  slack  months.  In  the  United 
States  it  would  often  be  a  public  economy,  as  well  as  offer 
work  to  men  thrown  out  in  slack  times  or  by  seasonal 
trades,  if  Boards  of  Public  Works  would  plan  to  carry 
on  general  municipal  improvements  when  work  is  least 
abundant. 

In  short,  it  may  be  concluded  that  relief  in  work  should 
be  given  by  substantially  the  same  methods  as  other  kinds 
of  relief,  and  always  with  a  view  to  the  restoration  of  the 
applicant  to  a  normal  condition  as  soon  as  possible.  While, 
in  the  future,  efforts  may  be  made  by  employers  and  by 
municipal  and  governmental  boards  generally,  to  distribute 


THE  UNEMPLOYED  AND   THE  HOMELESS  POOR.     261 

and  equalize  employment  throughout  the  year,  care  must 
always  be  taken  not  to  undermine  initiative  and  self-reli- 
ance of  the  individual.  The  East  Side  Relief  Committee 
recorded  their  conviction  that  emergency  methods  should 
be  adopted  only  under  abnormal  conditions,  and  finally 
concluded  :  — 

"When  industry  and  trade  are  natural,  the  only  safe  course  for 
the  working  people  is  to  accommodate  themselves  to  their  circum- 
stances or  to  change  them  by  their  own  action.  The  efforts  of 
philanthropists  to  compensate,  by  artificial  means,  for  irregularity  of 
work  or  low  wages,  can  only  result  in  mischief." 

In  dealing  with  the  unemployed  in  normal  times,  Pro- 
fessor Devine  lays  down  the  principle,  — 

"  that  the  obligation  to  find  employment,  like  the  obligation  to  con- 
tinue suitable  employment  when  one  has  it,  rests  primarily  on  the 
applicant  himself  ; " 

and  he  adds  :  — 

"  It  is  quite  possible  to  undermine  self-reliance  by  doing  gratuitously 
the  things  which  a  self-respecting  man  will  do  for  himself." 

The  workingman  of  good  habits,  ordinarily  earning  fair 
wages,  may  be  expected  to  save  something  in  the  shape  of 
bank  deposits,  trade-union  benefits,  or  unemployment  in- 
surance ;  and  he  should  not  be  discouraged  by  the  sight  of 
the  lazy  and  shiftless  obtaining  easy  relief  from  charitable 
societies. 

From  the  charitable  point  of  view,  by  far  the  larger  part 
of  the  relief  necessitated  by  lack  of  work  consists  in  the 
rehabilitation  of  character  and  the  finding  of  a  niche  in 
industry  for  subnormal  persons,  —  a  task  demanding  not 
only  infinite  patience  and  ingenuity,  but  a  high  degree  of 
spiritual  insight  and  faith.  The  other  part  consists  in 
tiding  over  families  temporarily  destitute  on  account  of 
seasonal  or  intermittent  employment.  How  frequent  an 
occurrence  this   is   likely  to  be   has  already  been  pointed 


262  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

out  in  the  chapter  on  the  Conditions  of  Poverty.  In  her 
study  of  200  families  in  New  York  City,  Mrs.  More  notes 
that  a  considerable  number  of  men  have  an  alternative 
trade.  As  an  example  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by 
charity  in  this  direction,  the  work  of  the  Philadelphia 
Vacant  Lots  Cultivation  Association  may  be  cited.  Organ- 
ized in  1897  as  an  emergency  relief  measure  for  the  un- 
employed, it  has  gradually  been  converted  into  a  permanent 
"  business  school "  for  those  out  of  work  because  of  age, 
disability,  or  slack  trade.  In  1903,  275  acres  of  la?nd  within 
the  city,  subdivided  into  768  gardens  and  cultivated  by 
3609  persons,  yielded  $36,000  of  produce  at  a  total  cost  to 
the  contributors  of  less  than  $5000  for  superintendence 
and  materials. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  present  here  any  extensive 
account  of  the  great  variety  of  experiments  and  institutions 
for  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  unemployed  in  Eng- 
land and  on  the  Continent.  A  vast  amount  of  information 
upon  them  is  now  accessible  in  our  own  language,  and  has 
recently  been  summarized  and  discussed  from  the  English 
point  of  view  in  Mr.  Percy  Alden's  useful  little  book,  "  The 
Unemployed."  While  most  of  the  agencies  described,  there 
could  not  be  transplanted  profitably  to  this  country  with 
its  very  different  problems,  yet  the  results  are  most  valuable 
by  way  of  warning  and  suggestion.  In  the  last  analysis, 
we  must  agree,  the  problem  of  the  unemployed  is  industrial, 
not  charitable  ;  and  in  as  far  as  every  philanthropic  person 
is  himself  a  citizen  and  a  worker,  he  will  be  engaged  in  the 
effort  after  an  economic  solution. 


CHAPTER   IX,  ''i)^      ^^/^T 

DEPENDENT   CHILDREN. 

Work  for  dependent  children  is  the  most  hopeful  branch 
of  charitable  endeavor  in  that  it  affords  more  possibilities 
of  constructive  work  than  any  other  line.  In  charities  for 
the  aged,  the  sick,  the  defective,  even  for  the  unemployed, 
one  is  conscious  that  for  the  individuals  dealt  with  there 
is  no  probability  of  any  high  measure  of  success.  There  is 
little  else  possible  than  to  make  the  best  of  unfortunate 
circumstances,  to  deal  with  palliatives,  to  brighten  individ- 
ual lives,  and  to  prevent  misfortune  from  spreading.  With 
children,  on  the  other  hand,  especially  the  quite  young  and 
tolerably  healthy,  there  is  a  possibility  of  more  positive 
results.  The  young  life  contains  within  itself  the  principle 
of  growth,  and  may  be  enabled  to  expand  into  something 
actively  useful.  But  if  the  work  for  children  has  thus  its 
specially  hopeful  side,  it  has  also  its  corresponding  dangers, 
and  imposes  upon  those  who  would  undertake  it  a  respon- 
sibility such  as  has  no  exact  counterpart  in  other  depart- 
ments. When  the  life  of  a  dependent  child  is  misdirected, 
the  misfortune  entailed  upon  the  individual  and  the  com- 
munity is  far-reaching.  Fifty  years  hence,  many  of  the 
children  now  dependent  will  still  be  suffering  from  or 
profiting  by  the  training  that  charity  affords  them. 

According  to  the  Census  of  1903-1904,  about  one-fourth  of 
all  the  benevolent  institutions  in  the  United  States  are  de- 
voted to  the  care  of  orphans  or  other  dependent  children, 
four-fifths  of  which  are  under  private  or  ecclesiastical  man- 
agement.    Table  LVIII.  on  the  following  page  shows  the 

263 


264 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


number  of  children  in  institutions  (excluding  reformatories) 
in  1880,  1890,  and  1904.  A  very  slight  consideration  shows 
that  the  number  in  institutions  in  any  State  has  no  definite 
ratio  to  the  population  ;  nor  does  the  general  increase  since 
1880  bear  any  apparent  relation  to  the  increase  of  general 
population.  It  is  evident  that  the  differences  between  States 
of  similar  economic  conditions  must  be  explained  by  the 
prevailing  policy  regarding  the  care  of  children.  If  the 
institutional  policy  is  general,  the  number  of  institutional 
inmates  will  be  greater  than  where  outdoor  relief  or  the 
placiug-out  systems  are  in  general  use.  Where  the  numbers 
are  small,  it  may  mean  one  of  three  things  :  that  dependent 
children  are  few,  that  they  are  inadequately  provided  for, 
or  that  some  other  method  than  the  institutional  prevails. 
Wherever  the  difference  between  numbers  admitted  and 
number  remaining  at  the  end  of  the  year  is  considerable, 
it  indicates  that  the  children  have  been  placed  out  in  homes. 


TABLE   LVIII. 
Inmates  of  Orphanages  and  Children's  Homes,  1903-1904. 


Number 

Number 

Number 

Number 

State  or  Territory. 

ADMITTED 

REMAINING 

IN 

in 

DURING 

Dec.  31, 

Institutions 

Institutions 

1904.* 

1904.* 

ISOO.t 

ISSO.t 

New  York      .... 

18,171 

24,907 

22,6.53 

18,624 

Illinois       .     . 

7,587 

5,245 

2,703 

1,453 

Ohio     .     .     . 

6,292 

7,670 

4,149 

5,970 

Massachusetts 

5,443 

3,953 

3,263 

3,463 

Pennsylvania 

4,786 

10,418 

8,278 

7,3.39 

California 

3,404 

4,680 

3,2.37 

2,509 

Missouri    . 

2,544 

2,697 

1,613 

1,643 

New  Jersey 

1,794 

2,598 

1,674 

1,049 

Indiana    . 

1,660 

2,934 

1,762 

915 

Michigan 

1,586 

1,669 

1,144 

747 

Maryland 

1,299 

2,165 

1,4.59 

1,6.53 

Louisiana 

1,188 

1,899 

1,682 

1,991 

Connecticut 

1,028 

1,854 

728 

466 

Minnesota 

1,018 

1,220 

897 

126 

Kentucky  . 

968 

1,482 

819 

950 

58,7.38 

75,461 

56,060 

48,908 

DEPENDENT  CHILDEEN. 


265 


TABLE   LVIII. 


Continued. 


Amount  forwarded 
Colorado  .     . 
Wisconsin 
Kansas      .     . 
Rhode  Island 
Texas  .     .     . 
Iowa     .     . 
District  of  Columbia 
Tennessee 
North  Carolina 
New  Hampshire 
Nebraska .     . 
Georgia     .     . 
Maine  .     .     . 
Washington  . 
Virginia    .     . 
Oregon      .     . 
South  Carolina 
Utah    .     .     . 
Arkansas  . 
Alabama  . 
Indian  Territory 
Montana  . 
South  Dakota 
Delaware  .     . 
New  Mexico  . 
Mississippi    . 
West  Virginia 
Vermont  . 
Florida      .     . 
North  Dakota 
Oklahoma 
Nevada 


58,738 
933 
877 
864 
838 
736 
661 
606 
591 
587 
554 
526 
463 
410 
390 
380 
355 
251 
237 
209 
207 
203 
179 
156 
142 
131 
104 
104 
100 
98 
95 
61 
9 


70,825 


75,461 
650 

1,283 
567 
753 

1,061 

1,162 
967 
862 

1,247 
981 
393 

1,111 
569 
359 
938 
255 
727 
232 
177 
529 
205 
332 
101 
391 
106 
270 
198 
181 
119 
68 
48 
56 


92,289 


56,060 
212 
1,117 
161 
522 
473 
568 
818 
605 
212 
256 
111 
502 
196 
184 
380 
105 
439 


340 


163 

156 
74 

203 
16 


49 


65,651 


48,908 

656 
55 
319 
206 
190 

302 
162 
144 

461 
198 

354 

69 

397 


226 


118 

149 

69 

176 

4 


187 


50,579 


*  Not  including-  children  in  almshouses  and  reformatories, 
t  Not  including  children  in  reformatories. 

The  care  of  destitute  infants  (cliildren  under  two  years  of 
age)  is  sharply  distinguished  from  the  care  of  older  depen- 
dent children.  Among  the  former  the  death-rate  is  the 
principal  index  of  success  or  failure,  while  among  the  latter 
the  death-rate  is  always  low  and  the  attention  must  be  given 
to  evidences  of  right  or  wrong  development  afforded  by  the 
character  and  subsequent  careers  of  the  children. 


266  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

In  a  great  majority  of  cases,  it  can  matter  but  little  to 
the  individual  infant  whether  it  is  murdered  outright  or  is 
placed  in  a  foundling  hospital  —  death  comes  only  a  little 
sooner  in  one  case  than  in  the  other.  This  fact,  that  found- 
ling hospitals  are,  for  the  most  part,  places  where  infants 
die,  is  not  sufl&ciently  appreciated  by  the  public.  A  death 
rate  of  97  per  cent  per  annum  for  children  under  three 
years  of  age  is  not  uncommon.^  The  printed  reports  of  in- 
stitutions for  infants  usually  do  not  give  the  number  of 
deaths.  One  foundling  hospital,  the  president  of  which  was 
a  prominent  physician,  stated  in  each  annual  report  that  the 
death-rate  was  comparatively  low.  When  the  president 
was  asked  what  the  exact  death-rate  was,  he  admitted  that 
he  did  not  know,  and  would  not  know  how  to  compute  one. 
It  was  found  that  the  average  number  of  inmates  in  this 
institution  was  thirty,  and  the  number  of  deaths  in  the 
preceding  year  had  been  forty-five.  In  an  institution  where 
no  exact  death-rate  was  computed,  a  study  of  the  books 
brought  out  the  following  facts :  in  five  months  twenty -three 
children  had  been  admitted;  in  the  succeeding  seven  months, 
four  of  these  children  had  been  given  in  adoption,  one  was 
in  the  institution,  and  eighteen  had  died.  Twenty-eight 
infants  were  consigned  one  after  another  by  a  public  official 
to  a  private  institution  administered  by  a  religious  order, 
and  they  all  died. 

Of  course  this  high  death-rate  comes  in  part  from  the  bad 
condition  of  the  children  when  received.  They  are  often 
marasmic,  rachitic,  syphilitic,  half  dead  from  drugging  or 
neglect,  or  from  ante-natal  or  post-natal  abuse.  Yet  this 
does  not  explain  entirely  the  high  death-rate  common  to  in- 
stitutions, as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  strong,  thriving 
babies  droop  and  die  in  them,  and  by  the  further  fact  that 
improved  methods  of  cariug  for  these  same  children  bring 

^  N.  C.  C,  1889,  p.  1,  gives  an  instance.  Previous  to  18!)8  practically 
all  babies  sent  to  the  Infants'  Hospital  on  Randall's  Island  died. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  267 

down  the  death-rate  to  almost  that  of  the  average  population 
for  corresponding  ages.  The  high  death-rate  where  chil- 
dren are  cared  for  in  institutions  often  results  from  positive 
neglect.  A  baby,  if  not  attended  to,  gets  into  a  very  bad 
condition  in  a  very  short  time.  A  woman  who  has  from 
four  to  eight  babies  to  take  care  of  is  apt  to  become  neglect- 
ful. It  is  possible  to  clean  them  up  for  visiting  day,  or  the 
inspection  of  directors  or  supervisors,  but  to  keep  them  all 
clean  and  comfortable  through  twenty-four  hours  of  the  day, 
seven  days  in  the  week,  and  fifty-two  weeks  in  the  year,  is 
another  matter.  Sometimes  they  are  left  to  lie  in  their 
cribs  scalded  by  urine  and  in  a  miserable  plight  generally. 
The  attendants,  being  assigned  more  work  than  they  can 
do,  settle  into  the  conviction  that  it  does  not  much  matter 
whether  they  do  anything  at  all  or  not.  If  attendants  are 
hired,  it  is  difficult  to  get  the  best  class  of  help  for  such 
work.  If  they  are  members  of  a  religious  order,  the  chances 
of  self-devotion  are  better ;  but  the  Sisters  are  often  ignorant 
and  tolerably  selfish  women,  and  are  usually  overworked. 

Even  when  the  infants  are  not  neglected,  and  vrhen,  ap- 
parently, the  attendants  do  everything  possible  for  their 
comfort,  the  death-rate  is  still  high.  It  is  not  possible  to 
raise  babies  by  wholesale.  The  institution  baby  lacks,  and 
must  lack,  that  affectionate  handling  which  gives  exercise 
to  the  baby  muscles,  and  the  zest  to  infant  existence  which 
makes  it  worth  while  for  the  child  to  live.  Though  the 
ward  of  an  asylum  be  flooded  with  sunlight,  as  it  frequently 
is  not,  and  though  the  bed  be  clean  and  dry,  as  it  often  is 
not,  yet  there  still  is  lacking  the  light  and  warmth  of  affec- 
tion and  the  comforts  of  personal  attention. 

Feeding  the  children  is  another  difficulty.  The  doctors 
do  their  best  in  recommending  sterilized  foods  of  all  kinds 
and  descriptions,  but  the  infants  still  insist  on  dying.  One 
institution  in  a  Southern  State,  under  the  care  of  Sisters  of 
Charity,  undertook  as  a  last  resort  to  keep  goats   for  the 


268 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


children  to  nurse,  but  with  no  good  results.  Many  institu- 
tions admit  a  woman  with  a  baby  on  condition  that  she 
shall  nurse  that  and  another.  This  is  usually  hard  on  the 
other  baby,  and  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  these 
mothers  under  one  roof  makes  administration  very  difficult. 
Others  board  the  infants  out  with  wet-nurses.  This  is  the 
method  of  the  State  Charities  Aid  Association  of  New  York 
for  all  babies  under  six  months  old.  This  Association  or- 
ganized a  Joint  Committee  in  1898  to  assist  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Public  Charities  in  boarding  out  foundlings  who 
had  previously  been  sent  to  the  Infants'  Hospital  on  Ran- 
dall's Island.  The  Joint  Committee  selected  the  families  in 
which  the  babies  were  placed,  watched  over  them  there,  and 
provided  any  funds  necessary  in  addition  to  the  amount  al- 
lowed by  the  city.^  The  saving  of  life  by  the  boarding-out 
system,  and  particularly  wet-nurses  for  those  under  six 
months,  is  shown  in  Table  LIX. 


TABLE  LIX. 

Infants  in  Manhattan,  Bronx,  and  Brooklyn. 

Received  from  the  Department  of  Charities.* 


Foundlings. 

Motherless 

AND 

Abandoned. 

Total. 

Mortality 
PER  Cent. 

1898-1899 

1899-1900 

1900-1901 

1901-1902 

1902-1903 

1903-1904 

1904-1904  (8  mos.) 

1904-1905 

1905-1906 

68 
36 
56 
80 
72 
58 
40 
63 
69 

2 
56 
52 
54 
120 
79 

86 

36 

56 

82 

128 

110 

94 

183 

148 

59.9 
31.1 
18.9 
10.7 
14.0 
10.0 
10.3 
11.3 
11.6 

542 

363 

905 

*  Kc'port  of  State  Charities  Aid  Association,  1900,  p.  oH. 
1  At  first  $2  per  week,  later  $2,50,  and  in  1906  $2.66  for  board. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  269 

Where  there  is  a  large  and  healthy  laboring  class,  this 
plan  works  very  well.  It  is  the  method  pursued  in  Paris, 
where  the  infants  are  sent  out  into  the  country,  chiefly  with 
the  wives  of  peasants.  In  the  Southern  States  suitable  wet- 
nurses  can  often  only  be  found  among  the  colored  people. 
The  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Charity,  following  the 
example  of  the  Massachusetts  Infant  Asylum,^  boards  out 
infants  in  the  country  villages  about  Boston,  placing  them 
with  Avomen  who  bring  them  up  by  artificial  feeding.  About 
$10  per  month  is  paid  for  the  board  of  each  child, 
and  clothing  is  furnished  by  the  officials.  By  carefully 
selecting  the  families,  by  subsequent  visitation  and  frequent 
calls,  at  both  stated  and  unexpected  times,  and  by  keeping 
constantly  subject  to  summons  a  physician  working  on  a 
salary  paid  by  the  State,  it  has  been  found  possible  to  bring 
the  death-rate  among  these  children  to  12.5  per  cent.^ 

As  a  result  of  the  success  of  these  methods,  there  are 
some  who  believe  that  a  foundling  asylum  is  a  perfectly  use- 
less institution,  since  an  efficient  society  or  public  official 
could  readily  find  homes  in  which  infants  could  be  received 
temporarily,  and  from  which  they  could  be  placed  in  fami- 
lies that  would  care  for  them  indefinitely,  if  properly  paid. 
While  most  authorities   are  not  willing  to  do  away  with 

1  They  receive  no  child  over  nine  months  old,  and  dispose  of  the 
children  when  they  reach  the  age  of  two.  The  death-rate  among  this 
class  of  dependents  before  they  began  operations  had  been  about  ninety 
in  a  hundred.  They  have  devoted  themselves  especially  to  the  work  of 
devising  ways  to  save  the  lives  of  these  children.  Their  plan  now  is  to 
board  out  about  three-fourths  of  the  babies,  and  to  keep  the  others, 
usually  in  the  care  of  wet-nurses,  in  an  institution  especially  designed  for 
the  purpose.  In  the  early  years,  when  occupying  an  ordinary  house  and 
employing  only  a  few  wet-nurses,  the  death-rate,  obtained  by  comparing 
the  total  number  of  different  children  in  charge  of  the  asylum  during  the 
year  with  the  total  number  of  deaths,  ranged  from  twenty-six  to  forty- 
five.  Under  the  newer  methods  this  rate  has  been  reduced  to  five,  and 
even  less.  Even  when  the  State  Board  was  sending  a  large  number  of 
foundlings,  the  death-rate  was  never  higher  than  sixteen,  and  sometimes 
went  as  low  as  eight.  ^  Report,  1905-1906, 


270  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

institutions  for  babies  altogether,  there  is  a  strong  tendency 
to  keep  infants  for  shorter  periods  in  asylums  and  to  place 
them  with  wet-nurses  and  at  board  in  families  as  soon  as 
possible. 

In  general,  the  conditions  of  institutional  care  of  babies 
have  -  rapidly  improved  in  recent  years.  In  Baltimore,  for 
instance,  three  leading  specialists  have  prepared  for  the 
supervisors  of  the  city  charities  a  set  of  requirements  for 
such  institutions.  Each  baby  must  have  1000  cubic  feet  of 
air  space,  and  abundant  porch  space,  and  must  spend  at 
least  four  hours  a  day  in  the  open ;  there  must  be  a  ward 
in  readiness  for  infectious  diseases,  which  must  be  perfectly 
fumigated ;  and  an  experienced  nurse  for  every  20  babies, 
and  a  nursery  maid  for  every  4.  The  milk  supply  must  be 
of  standard  purity,  a  proper  sterilizing  plant  must  be  main- 
tained, and  at  least  20  napkins  a  day  provided  for  each 
child.  ^ 

Next  to  the  actual  preservation  of  the  life  of  the  child, 
the  most  important  question  connected  with  the  care  of 
destitute  infants  is  upon  what  conditions  they  shall  be  re- 
ceived. The  mediseval  device  long  used  in  France  consisted 
of  a  double  cradle.  When  the  child  had  been  placed  in  the 
cradle  on  the  outside  of  the  building,  the  contrivance  was 
revolved,  ringing  a  bell  as  it  turned.  By  this  process  the 
child  was  placed  in  the  institution,  and  another  cradle  was 
waiting  at  once  for  the  next  comer.  The  purpose  of  these 
tours  was  to  make  it  so  easy  to  get  rid  of  babies  that 
there  might  be  no  temptation  to  infanticide.  The  agitation 
for  the  abolition  of  this  system  of  admission  was  bitterly 
resisted,  Lamartine  speaking  of  it  as  a  case  of  "  figures  vs. 
humanity."  When  the  tours  had  been  suppressed  in  some 
of  the  departments,  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that 
infanticide  increased  thereafter.  But  further  examination 
of  the  statistics  showed  that  infanticide  had  also  increased 
1  Charities,  etc.,  vol.  xviii.,  p.  232,  1!)07. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  271 

in  those  departments  where  the  tours  were  still  in  opera- 
tion ;  in  fact,  it  had  increased  faster  in  the  latter  than  in 
the  former.  This  last-mentioned  fact  seems  to  reflect  the 
actual  results  of  such  appliances,  and  of  all  instances  of 
laxness  in  receiving  unwanted  children  from  parents.  Its 
indirect  influence  is  so  to  promote  disregard  of  parental  ties 
and  infant  life  that  more  children  are  murdered  outright 
than  where  it  is  less  easy  for  parents  to  get  rid  of  off- 
spring. This  conclusion,  which  seems  to  be  tolerably  well 
established,  is  sufficient  in  itself,  without  resort  to  the  com- 
mon plea  that  easy  disposal  of  offspring  promotes  illegiti- 
macy, and  without  reference  to  the  money  cost  of  the  laxer 
methods.  It  is  not,  as  Lamartine  said,  a  case  of  "  figures  vs. 
humanity,"  but  rational  and  helpful  sympathy  vs.  diseased 
and  mischievous  sympathy. 

The  Foundling  Asylum  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  the 
city  of  New  York  (now  the  New  York  Foundling  Hospital), 
under  Sister  Irene,  affords  the  best-known  American  ex- 
ample of  facilities  offered  for  the  abandonment  of  infants. 
A  cradle  was  formerly  placed  in  the  vestibule,  in  which  in- 
fants could  be  placed  without  observation  from  those  inside. 
At  last,  however,  they  began  to  come  two  or  three  in  a  single 
night  ;^  the  cradle  was  then  put  inside  the  door,  and  an  ap- 
plicant must  ring  the  bell.  If  a  mother  brought  her  child, 
she  was  asked  to  stay  and  nurse  her  child  and  another.  If 
she  refused,  she  was  allowed  to  depart  without  further 
question,  leaving  the  infant.  Perhaps  a  majority  of  found- 
ling hospitals  in  the  United  States  make  no  adequate  inves- 
tigation and  keep  no  adequate  record  of  the  parentage  of 
children  received.  There  are  some  cases  where  any  inves- 
tigation must  be  fruitless ;  but  the  experience  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Children's  Aid  Society  and  the  Massachusetts 
State  Board  of  Lunacy  and  Charity  proves  that  if  trouble 

1  The  first  year  1399  babies  were  placed  in  the  crib.  Mrs.  Bouvier, 
"  New  York  Conference  on  Child-caring,"  pp.  71-72. 


272  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

enough  is  taken,  thorough  investigations  usually  bring 
out  some  helpful  facts,  and  that  such  a  course  is  not  only 
wise  but  kindly.  It  has  a  bad  effect  upon  all  concerned  — 
for  a  woman  or  a  man  to  be  able  to  dispose  of  a  baby  "  and 
no  questions  asked."  ^ 

There  is,  naturally,  a  close  relation  between  the  infant 
asylums  and  the  maternity  hospitals.  What  happens 
to  the  young  unmarried  mother  has  been  described  in 
the  report  of  the  State  Charities  Aid  Association  of  New 
York :  — 

"  From  the  doors  of  the  great  maternity  hospital  there  are  four 
diverging  roads  for  the  young  traveller  who  is  an  unmarried  mother. 
One  road  leads  to  desertion  of  the  child  in  a  convenient  hallway ;  an- 
other to  the  creche  of  a  foundling  hospital ;  a  third,  to  a  boarding  home, 
good  or  indifferent,  for  the  child.  And  in  many  ways  all  of  these  are 
easier  to  travel  than  the  fourth  road.  ...  It  takes  moral  courage 
...  to  face  the  world  with  an  unwelcomed  child  in  her  arms  and 
work  for  its  support."  2 

In  most  cases  it  is  quite  certain  that  to  enable  a  mother 
to  leave  her  infant  is  a  gratuitous  mistake.  Even  if  the 
child  be  illegitimate,  her  maternal  instincts  are  the  best 
thing  about  her.  She  is  salvable  through  these,  or  probably 
not  at  all.  To  give  her  facilities  for  deadening  these  in- 
stincts is  to  do  her  final  harm.  Experience  has  shown  that 
with  a  little  kindly  aid  she  can  usually  be  enabled  to  keep 
the  child  and  support  herself  and  it.  At  the  worst,  she  can 
enter  an  institution  for  a  time,  and  nurse  her  child  and  an- 
other. Experiments  in  the  cities  of  Boston,  Philadelphia, 
and  New  York  have  shown  that  suitable  service  places  in 
the  country  can  be  found  to  which  destitute  mothers  may 
go,  taking  their  children  with  them.     The  demand  for  this 

1  Massachusetts,  some  years  ago,  passed  very  radical  legislation  de- 
signed to  suppress  "  baby-farming."  Persons  makhig  a  business  of  board- 
ing infants  for  pay  are  required  to  i-eport  to  the  State  Board  of  Lunacy 
and  Cliarity,  and  to  submit  lo  its  supervision. 

2  Report  of  State  Charities  Aid  Association,  1906,  p.  39. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  273 

class  of  help  usually  exceeds  the  supply.  A  single  society 
in  New  York  has  provided  5327  situations  for  deserted 
wives,  unmarried  mothers,  and  widows  with  their  children 
during  the  last  thirteen  years.^ 

If  judiciously  placed,  a  majority  of  these  women  give 
satisfaction  to  their  employers,  and  are  satisfied  themselves. 
It  is  said  that  they  do  as  well  as  those  who  take  situations 
without  children,  and  in  many  instances  they  are  more  re- 
liable for  help  in  the  country.  Of  course  a  destitute  woman 
with  no  one  to  help  her  support  her  child  has  not  an  easy 
life  before  her ;  but,  on  the  whole,  life  will  be  happier  and 
healthier  in  every  way  if  she  is  aided  in  keeping  her  child 
than  if  she  is  aided  in  getting  rid  of  it. 

Children  over  two  years  of  age  live  quite  persistently. 
Therefore,  as  regards  these,  we  do  not  need  to  examine  so 
closely  the  death-rate,  for  they  may  be  very  improperly 
cared  for,  and  the  death-rate  still  be  low.  The  first  question 
of  importance  regarding  them,  is  upon  what  terms  they  shall 
be  received  and  supported  as  dependents. 

The  rules  of  private  institutions  for  receiving  children 
are  very  various  and  often  very  erratic.  Sometimes  ille- 
gitimacy is  a  prerequisite.  One  endowed  institution  required 
that  a  child  should  be  the  legitimate  offspring  of  parents 
both  of  whom  had  been  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  one  or  both  of  whom  were  dead.  In  some  institutions 
children  are  received  temporarily,  and  in  others  they  are 
not  admitted  unless  the  natural  parents  give  up  all  title  to 
them.  The  rules  of  admission  to  private  institutions  are 
usually  lax  in  practice  if  not  in  form ;  but  they  are  nowhere 
so  lax  as  in  those  States  where  the  managers  admit  the  child, 
and  the  State  or  city  government  is  then  constrained  by  law 
to  pay  for  its  maintenance  without  question.  The  financial 
aspects  of  this  system  will  be  considered  later,  but  here 

1  Ibid.,  p.  39.  In  1907  the  Pennsylvania  Aid  Society  placed  587  mothers 
with  children  in  domestic  service. 


274  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

must  be  noted  its  extreme  perniciousness  as  regards  the 
children. 

Two  things  are  necessary  in  order  that  agencies  for  the 
care  of  children  may  avoid  the  evil  of  encouraging  the  tem- 
porary or  permanent  abandonment  of  children.  The  first  is, 
that  the  case  of  every  child  received  must  be  thoroughly 
investigated  by  some  competent  agent ;  and  the  second  is, 
that  when  relatives  give  up  a  child  to  be  a  dependent,  they 
must  give  up  all  title  to  it.  Guardianship  should  be  vested 
completely  in  the  agency  that  takes  care  of  the  child. 

As  to  the  first  point,  most  j^rivate  institutions  for  children 
are  unduly  negligent.  It  frequently  happens  that  children 
are  received  through  the  influence  of  some  member  of  the 
board  of  managers,  or  by  a  sympathetic  matron,  until  the 
institution  is  overcrowded,  and  cases  far  more  deserving  of 
care  then  go  unprovided  for.  Even  where  the  matron  or  a 
member  of  the  board  of  managers  tries  to  make  an  investiga- 
tion, it  is  work  in  which  such  a  person  is  not  an  expert, 
and  it  is  too  often  ill  done.  The  business  of  deciding  when 
children  ought  to  be  taken  from  parents,  or  received  from 
parents,  is  becoming  a  specialty  by  itself ;  and  the  societies 
for  the  protection  of  children  and  children's  aid  societies 
ought  to  be  asked  to  investigate  all  doubtful  cases.  So  grave 
is  the  abuse  of  receiving  children  too  readily,  and  so  great  is 
the  injury  to  the  children  themselves  when  so  received,  that 
some  of  those  identified  with  the  most  progressive  work  for 
children,  hold  that  no  child  should  be  placed  in  an  institu- 
tion except  on  judicial  approval,  and  a  finding  that  the  given 
child  is  delinquent  or  dependent.  This  rule  they  would 
have  applied  to  institutions  wholly  supported  by  private 
funds,  as  well  as  to  public  institutions  and  private  institu- 
tions receiving  public  subsidies.  Careful  investigation  in 
not  a  few  cases  reveals  a  better  way  of  providing  for  the 
child  than  to  place  it  in  the  institution.  Whenever  it  is 
found  that  the  parents  or  the  surviving  parent  are  of  good 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  275 

character  and  suitable  guardians,  they  should  be  helped  to 
keep  the  child  at  home.^ 

The  second  rule,  namely,  that  when  parents  or  relatives 
leave  a  child  to  be  supported  by  charitable  agency,  they 
should  lose  all  title  to  it,  seems  a  hard  one,  yet  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases  it  is  thoroughly  salutary.  Perhaps  the 
rule  which  refuses  to  receive  a  child  for  more  than  two 
weeks  without  having  guardianship  vested  in  the  institution, 
affords  as  much  latitude  as  ought  to  be  given.  Against  this 
view  it  is  urged  that  parents  are  after  all  the  best  guardians 
of  their  children,  and  if  the  time  ever  comes  when  they  can 
take  care  of  their  own,  it  is  better  that  the  children  be  re- 
turned. But  experience  shows  that  it  has  a  bad  effect  on 
parents  as  parents  to  get  rid  of  the  care  of  their  children  for 
a  time,  and  that  they  spoil  the  life  of  a  child  by  selfishly 
taking  it  home  when  they  think  it  is  old  enough  to  be  of 
service.  Parents  who  cannot  support  their  children  usually 
have  not  the  capacity  required  to  bring  up  a  child  in  a 
healthful  way  and  in  a  healthful  environment.  Besides  this, 
the  privilege  of  temporarily  disposing  of  a  child  is  frequently 
the  means  of  bringing  about  its  permanent  abandonment. 
As  affection  wanes  in  consequence  of  absence,  parents  that 
would  have  found  some  way  to  support  their  children  rather 
than  give  them  up  in  the  first  instance,  gradually  accustom 
themselves  to  the  idea  of  abandoning  their  offspring. 

A  stock  instance  of  the  effect  of  removing  children  from 
institutions  to  families,  with  the  result  that  the  natural 
parents  will  lose  sight  of  and  title  to  them,  is  that  of  the 
Union  Temporary  Home  in  Philadelphia.  After  thirty-one 
years  of  work,  it  was  decided  to  close  the  Home  and  put 
the  children  out  to  board.     Out  of  70  children,  the  parents 

1  The  Department  of  Charities  iu  New  York  City  has  employed  the 
trained  service  of  the  C.  O.  S.  for  this  purpose,  and  with  the  cooperation 
of  charitable  societies,  relief  for  such  families  has  been  provided,  thus 
avoiding  the  necessity  of  taking  the  child  away. 


276  AMERICAN  CHABITIES. 

of  all  but  9  were  able  to  take  good  care  of  them  themselves, 
and  of  the  rest  3  found  a  way  before  final  arrangements 
were  made.^  The  diminution  in  the  number  of  dependent 
children  is  especially  large  where  the  law  provides  that 
guardianship  shall  be  vested  in  the  State,  or  a  board  of 
children's  guardians,  in  the  cases  of  all  children  for  whose 
support  public  money  is  given.  At  AVashington,  D.C.,  there 
were  about  600  children  in  institutions  receiving  public 
money.  A  board  of  children's  guardians  was  established 
under  a  law  providing  that  the  dependency  of  each  child 
should  be  ascertained  by  a  court,  and  the  guardianship  of  a 
child  then  vested  in  the  board  of  guardians.  While  the  law 
as  planned  was  not  carried  out,  it  became  evident  that,  were 
it  so  carried  out,  there  would  not  be  more  than  150  depen- 
dent children  in  the  district. 

The  different  results  of  the  two  methods  of  procedure  in 
the  matter  of  the  legal  relation  between  parents  and  the 
children  who  become  dependent,  is  strikingly  illustrated  by 
the  experience  of  Michigan  and  New  York.  Both  awoke 
about  the  same  time  — 1874  —  to  the  numbers  of  children  in 
poorhouses  and  undertook  to  make  other  provision  for  them. 
Michigan  established  a  State  school  for  all  dependent  chil- 
dren from  which  they  were  to  be  placed  in  families.  New 
York  forbade  the  keeping  of  children  in  almshouses  and 
provided  that  a  dependent  child  should  be  committed  if 
possible  to  an  institution  controlled  by  the  same  religious 
faith  as  that  of  its  parents,  at  the  expense  of  the  county.  In 
Michigan  the  parents  were  dej^rived  of  all  responsibility  and 
all  legal  rights  in  the  child ;  in  New  York,  the  legal  guar- 
dianship remained  with  the  parents,  if  it  had  any.  While 
guardianship  has  not  been  the  only  factor  determining  the 
increase  of  dependent  children  in  these  two  States,  it  is 
highly  significant  that  in  1904  Michigan  had  only  65.6  de- 

iRiis,  "Children  of  the  Poor,"  pp.  282-285;  Report  New  York  State 
Board  of  Charities,  1889,  p.  202. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  277 

pendent  children  to  each  100,000  of  her  population,  while 
New  York  had  317.3  per  100,000. 

After  the  question  of  receiving  children  and  their  guar- 
dianship, the  next  most  important  matter  is  their  classifica- 
tion. In  the  first  place,  those  who  are  distinctly  unsound 
in  body  or  mind  should  be  set  apart.  The  sick  must  be  re- 
manded to  hospital  care  or  homes  for  incurables ;  cripples 
preferably  to  special  institutions  ;  and  the  feeble-minded  and 
epileptic  to  institutions  designed  for  them.  But  it  is  easier 
to  say  that  classification  is  needed  than  to  do  the  classifying. 
Every  children's  hospital  has  inmates  that  are  well  enough 
to  be  discharged,  but  within  a  month  after  discharge  are 
likely  to  be  sick  enough  to  be  readmitted.  In  making  a 
personal  investigation  of  Gil  inmates  in  eleven  institutions 
for  children,  I  found  32  that  had  some  marked  mental  defect 
or  nervous  disease,  such  as  epilepsy  or  paralysis.  Besides 
this,  92  of  the  children  were  markedly  defective  or  diseased. 
Not  many  cripples  were  found,  but  many  afflicted  with 
severe  forms  of  scrofula  and  other  varieties  of  practically 
incurable  blood-poisoning.  That  is,  one  out  of  six  of  these 
children  was  distinctly  unwell,  mentally  or  physically.^ 

To  classify  further  those  adjudged  healthy,  is  equally  im- 
portant and  difficult.  First  are  criminals,  misdemeanants, 
and  unmanageables,  usually  spoken  of  as  "  delinquents,"  for 
whom  special  treatment  must  be  prescribed.  They  cannot 
be  considered  here,  although  their  proper  care  is  one  of  the 
most  important  problems  in  applied  sociology. 

After  the  delinquents,  come  the  dependent  children  proper, 
made  up  of  the  neglected,  abused,  abandoned,  and  other- 
wise parentless,  and  the  children  of  utterly  destitute  par- 
ents. It  is  not  uncommon  for  simply  destitute  children 
to  be  sent  to  correctional  institutions.     The  laws  of  many 

1  This,  of  course,  does  not  include  those  children  that  were  suffering 
from  the  ailments  common  to  institution  life,  such  as  mild  skin  disease, 
sore  eyes,  etc. 


278  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

States  provide  a  definition  for  vagrancy  that  is  broad  enough 
to  include  almost  any  neglected  child,  and  further  provide 
that  vagrants  or  children  that  wander  about  and  beg  from 
door  to  door  may  be  sent  to  reform  schools.  Another  elastic 
provision  is  that  regarding  "  incorrigibles."  If  the  parent 
sees  fit  to  swear  that  the  child  is  incorrigible,  the  court  has 
very  little  option  in  many  States,  but  must  commit  such 
child  to  the  reform  school.  Mixed  with  the  more  depraved 
who  properly  belong  to  the  school,  the  chances  for  these 
boys  and  girls  to  come  to  the  best  that  they  were  capable  of 
is  not  good.  The  classification  at  exactly  this  point  —  the 
separation  of  the  depraved  from  the  merely  destitute  —  is  an 
essential  element  in  the  wise  handling  of  the  neglected  and 
destitute  children  of  any  State  or  locality. 

In  the  classification  of  destitute  children,  it  will  be  noticed 
that  orphans  and  half-orphans,  a  distinction  which  is  more 
commonly  made,  perhaps,  than  any  other,  have  not  been 
mentioned ;  and  yet  for  purposes  of  care  it  has  very 
little  significance.  The  child  that  must  be  taken  from  its 
parents  is  parentless,  and  it  is  of  very  little  significance  so 
far  as  the  child  itself  is  concerned  whether  its  parents  are 
dead  or  not.  The  distinction  between  orphans  and  half- 
orphans,  which  is  recognized  by  the  laws  of  California  and 
other  States  in  providing  money  for  private  institutions,  and 
which  is  usually  recognized  in  the  administration  of  private 
institutions,  is  simply  a  device  by  which  the  managers  of  an 
institution  save  themselves  the  trouble  of  examining  into 
individual  cases.  The  distinction  is  made  because  it  is 
easy  to  make,  and  they  feel  that  they  must  draw  the  line 
somewhere.  It  is,  however,  of  comparatively  little  conse- 
quence for  our  present  purposes,  and  can  only  be  of  use  in 
studying  causes  of  dependency  among  children. 

What  has  been  said  regarding  classification  shows  the 
great  importance  of  the  work  of  the  children's  aid  societies 
and  the  societies  for  the  protection  of  children  from  cruelty 


DEPENDENT   CHILDREN.  279 

and  immorality.  They  are,  or  should  be,  specialists  in 
exactly  this  work  of  classitication.  It  is  their  business  to 
understand  the  character  of  the  children  and  the  possibilities 
of  the  situation ;  and  wherever  their  work  is  done  with  con- 
scientious intelligence,  the  courts  cannot  do  better  than  to 
take  their  advice  in  disposing  of  destitute  or  delinquent 
children.  In  many  cases  it  may  be  found  that  institution 
life  of  any  sort  is  unnecessary ;  and  where  it  is  necessary, 
the  institution  should  be  chosen  with  distinct  reference  to 
the  individual  child. 

After  the  matters  of  reception,  guardianship,  and  classi- 
fication are  disposed  of,  the  final  matter  of  importance  is 
the  method  of  providing  for  dependent  children.  Broadly 
speaking,  there  are  two  systems  :  the  first  is  the  institution 
plan,  and  the  second  is  the  plan  of  placing-out.  On  Dec. 
31,  1904,  there  were  remaining  in  institutions  in  the  United 
States,  92,289  children;  during  the  preceding  year,  70,825 
were  admitted  ;  the  difference,  21,464,  represents  those  re- 
turned to  parents,  old  enough  to  be  discharged,  etc.,  but  chiefly 
those  placed  out.  In  addition  to  these,  there  is  a  large  num- 
ber placed  out  in  families,  of  which  there  is  no  record.  Mr. 
Homer  Folks  estimates  their  number  at  not  less  than  50,000,^ 
from  which  it  may  be  concluded,  roughly,  that  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  all  dependent  children  are  at  present  in  institutions 
and  the  remainder  in  families. 

To  build  institutions  for  children  has  been  the  common 
and  obvious  thing  to  do  in  providing  for  them.  The  insti- 
tution is  preferred  by  parents,  because  they  know  where  the 
child  is,  and  can  usually  visit  it,  and  frequently  can  retain 
the  right  to  take  it  back  again  when  they  will.  Institutions 
are  also  in  favor  with  the  benevolent,  because  the  work  done 
is  so  manifest.  A  hundred  or  more  children,  prepared  for 
the  occasion,  make  an  attractive  sight  to  the  board  of  directors 
or  to  visitors.  Buildings  are  obvious,  and  the  money  that 
1  "  Care  of  Dependent  Children,"  etc.,  p.  197,  1902. 


280  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

goes  into  thera  takes  a  concrete  form  gratifying  to  the  con- 
tributors. The  churches  prefer  such  life  for  the  children 
dependent  upon  them,  because  the  children  can  be  so  easily 
isolated  from  teachings  other  than  their  own.  There  is 
opportunity  for  catechetical  instruction.  In  New  York  State 
all  the  institutions  having  more  than  five  hundred  children 
are  of  a  distinctly  religious  character.^  Closely  connected 
with  the  religious  motive,  is  the  opportunity  which  an  in- 
stitution for  children  affords  for  a  peculiarly  attractive  form 
of  private  endowment.  All  private  benefactions,  whether  of 
the  living  or  in  memory  of  the  dead,  tend  to  take  material 
rather  than  administrative  form. 

Between  1875  and  1903  children's  institutions  multiplied 
rapidly  all  over  the  country.  In  1880  there  were  613,  in 
1890,  698,  and  in  1903,  1075.  Added  to  the  motives  for  in- 
stitutional care  of  children  is,  therefore,  the  possession  of 
these  plants  and  their  equipment,  and  the  inertia  of  the 
public  which  tends  to  be  content  with  a  benevolent  work 
once  established.^ 

On  the  whole,  institutions  are  preferred  by  the  children 
themselves,  at  least  after  they  have  been  in  them  for  some 
time.  They  do  not  feel  at  home  outside  of  the  sheltering 
walls,  and  shrink  from  the  rough  contact  of  ordinary  life. 
In  some  institutions  former  inmates  keep  returning  again  and 

1  St.  John's  Home,  Brooklyn       1261 

St.  Joseph's  Female  Orphan  Asylum,  Brooklyn 028 

St.  Malachy's  Home,  Brooklyn 741 

St.  Agatha  Home  for  Children,  Brooklyn 600 

Hebrew  Orphan  Asylum,  New  York  City 1009 

Hebrew  Sheltering  Guardian  Society,  New  York  City      ....  775 

Institution  of  Mercy,  New  York  City 706 

Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Virgin,  New  York  City 1607 

Roman  Catholic  Orphan  Asylum,  New  York  City 783 

St.  Joseph's  Asylum,  New  York  City 814 

St.  Joseph's  Home,  Peekskill 10.')6 

—  Census,  liX)3-1904,  "  Benevolent  Institutions,"  pp.  94  ff. 

2  Devine,  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  110-111. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  281 

again,  either  seeking  work  or  begging  to  be  taken  back,  be- 
cause it  is  the  life  they  are  used  to,  and  the  only  one  for 
which  they  are  fitted. 

The  institution,  commending  itself  to  these  various  parties 
in  interest,  has  necessarily  had  an  earlier  and  greater  devel- 
opment than  the  placing-out  system.  Besides,  there  are 
many  things  to  be  said  in  its  favor  by  those  who  have  a 
really  disinterested  wish  to  benefit  the  dependents.  The 
children  receive  many  negative  benefits.  They  are  not  cold, 
nor  dirty,  nor  neglected,  nor  hungry,  nor  abused,  —  that  is, 
if  the  management  is  good.  The  grosser  forms  of  profanity 
and  vice  can  be  restrained  ;  their  attendance  on  school  exer- 
cises is  entirely  regular,  as  are  also  their  hours  of  sleep  and 
eating. 

But  admitting  these  advantages,  there  is  much  to  be  said 
against  institution  life  for  children.  The  congregating  of 
them  together,  which  we  found  in  the  case  of  infants  to  re- 
sult in  high  mortality,  results  in  the  case  of  older  children 
in  a  low  vitality.  Even  a  small  institution  is  different  from 
a  large  family.  In  the  latter,  the  children  are  of  different 
ages  ;  they  have  different  opportunities  for  amusement — one 
initiates  the  other.  Even  in  a  small  institution  with  only 
eight  or  ten  children,  they  are  apt  to  be  of  about  the  same 
age,  none  of  them  especially  ambitious,  and  with  their  op- 
portunities for  self-education  very  limited.  In  the  large 
caravansaries,  where  hundreds  or  even  thousands  of  children 
are  congregated,  their  non-development  is  very  apparent. 
The  fundamental  fault  is,  perhaps,  that  life  is  made  too 
easy.  A  child  ought  to  have  more  opportunity  of  hurting 
himself,  of  getting  dirty,  of  being  insubordinate,  than  can 
possibly  be  accorded  to  him  here.  It  is  a  pitiful  sight  to 
see  a  hundred  children  together,  and  none  of  them  making 
a  fuss.  The  discipline  that  would  make  a  good  soldier  ruins 
a  child  —  it  is  fatal  to  him  to  march  in  platoons,  to  play 
only  at  the  word  of  command. 


282  i  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

Of  the  effect  of  this,  Mr.  K.  R.  Reeder,  Superintendent  of 
the  Xew  York  Orphan  Asylum,  says  :  — 

"The  first  impression  that  institution  children  make  upon  a  visitor 
is  that  of  solidarity  and  dead  levelism  ;  monotony  and  lack  of  individual 
initiation  are  shown  in  looks,  manners,  and  evenness  of  behavior.  .  .  . 
Until  recently,  many,  perhaps  most,  institutions  dressed  their  children 
in  uniform.  Now  it  is  quite  common  to  hear  superintendents  or  man- 
agers say  with  pride,  '  We  do  not  dress  our  children  all  alike,'  while 
entirely  overlooking  a  deeper  uniformity,  a  dead  levelism  of  soul,  of 
understanding,  of  occupation,  that  is  vastly  more  significant  and 
blighting  in  its  effect  than  a  mere  shallow  uniformity  like  that  of  dress. 
The  latter  is  easily  changed  .  .  .  but  the  uniformity  that  goes  deeper  than 
dress  is  liable  to  produce  during  the  years  of  growth  a  soul  structure  so 
permanent  as  to  mark  the  child  throughout  life  as  institution  trained. 
He  will  never  stand  for  much,  nor  alone,  but  always  will  be  one  of  a 
crowd  —  a  colorless  life,  shrivelled  from  youth."  i 

How  is  a  child  to  learn  to  use  matches  if  he  lives  in  a 
building  with  steam  heat  and  electric  light  ?  How  will  the 
child  learn  to  cook  in  the  ordinary  home  where  nothing  but 
great  ranges  are  used  for  cooking  ?  How  learn  to  wash 
under  ordinary  circumstances  where  the  laundry  does  the 
work  for  one  or  two  hundred  people  ?  What  experience 
can  a  boy  have  here  that  would  qualify  him  to  bring  in 
wood  ?  How  learn  to  carry  water  where  there  is  nothing  to 
do  but  to  turn  the  stop-cock  ?  How  will  he  learn  to  tell  the 
time  of  day  where  everything  moves  at  the  stroke  of  a  bell 
or  the  word  of  command  ?  How  obtain  any  appreciation 
whatever  of  the  value  of  money  when  everything  comes  to 
him  as  if  the  world  had  been  arranged  to  provide  him  with 
each  thing  that  he  needs  and  just  as  he  needs  ?  There  is,  in 
fact,  no  proper  development  of  the  child's  inventiveness  or 
individuality,  or  even  of  his  ambitions.  A  hundred  institu- 
tion children  deluged  with  toys  at  Christmas  enjoy  them 
less,  and  feelless  gratitude,  than  the  children  of  the  individ- 

1  Charities,  vol.  xi.,  1903,  pp.  149-150. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  283 

ual  home  who  have  learned  to  long  for  things,  and  learned 
to  know  in  some  sort  what  it  costs  to  provide  them. 

Again,  institution  children  are  apt  to  lose  wholly  the 
practical  economic  training  and  the  moral  attitude  toward 
life  which  children  at  home  absorb  unconsciously.  Of  this 
Mr.  Eeeder  says  :  — 

"Unless  special  attention  is  given  to  it,  children  in  an  institution 
■will  hear  little  or  no  helpful  conversation  about  domestic  economy  and 
management,  social  and  religious  customs  and  practice,  the  moral 
principles  involved  inconcrete  newspaper  and  neighborhood  happenings. 
Left  thus  to  themselves  they  never  hear  such  expressions  as  '  Potatoes 
are  high  ;  v^e  can  afford  them  only  once  a  day,'  '  Flour  has  gone  down,' 
*  Butter  is  thirty-five  cents  a  pound,'  '  John's  shoes  must  last  till  next 
pay-day,'  '  Mary's  dress  will  bear  turning,'  etc.  The  most  Important 
part  of  the  social  and  moral  education  of  a  child  normally  situated  is 
the  conversation,  especially  the  table  talk  with  parents.  It  is  here 
that  children  get  their  views  of  life  before  starting  out  into  the  larger 
world  they  must  enter.  ...  I  may  add  also  just  here  that  the  most 
valuable  part  of  the  child's  industrial  training  is  his  cooperation  with 
parents  either  by  laborer  by  an  economic  use  of  their  means  in  main- 
taining and  promoting  the  interests  of  the  home."  ^ 

The  object  of  institution  life  for  children  should  be  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  that  of  the  home  and  school  —  to  pre- 
pare them  for  citizenship.  Yet  very  few  such  institutions 
follow  the  subsequent  careers  of  their  wards  to  test  their 
methods  by  their  ultimate  success  or  failure.  It  has  often 
been  observed  that  children  who  have  been  in  an  institution 
for  some  time  cannot  hold  their  own  with  those  of  the  same 
age  who  come  in  from  the  slums  ;  and  that  children  reared 
in  infant  asylums  are  two  or  three  years  behind  others  in 
development. 

A  great  part  of  the  evils  of  institution  life  come  from  the 

mingling  of  individuals,  none  of  whom  have  a  very  good 

heredity  behind  them,    and  some  of  whom  have  inherited 

weak  constitutions  and  bad  moral  tendencies.     It  is  a  con- 

1  Charities,  vol.  xi.,  1903,  p.  151. 


284  AMEBIC  AN  CHARITIES. 

tinual  fight  on  the  part  of  matrons  to  repress  skin  diseases 
and  sore  eyes;  and  these  contagious  diseases  are  but  typical 
of  the  contagious  vices  which  are  not  so  obvious,  but  more 
to  be  dreaded.  That  institution  life  is  partly  faulty  because 
of  the  low  grade  of  cliildren  who  are  received,  and  who 
bring  about  degeneration  in  each  other,  is  proved  by  the 
experience  of  institutions  that  have  introduced  an  element 
of  artificial  selection,  which  separates  the  low  from  the 
more  highly  organized. 

All  that  has  been  said  so  far  refers  to  the  institutionalism 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  which  has  recently  been  altering 
its  form  in  notable  instances.  Several  influences  have  been 
at  work  to  check  the  excessive  growth  and  the  lax  adminis- 
tration of  institutions  for  children.  The  extravagant  cost 
of  some  has  drawn  public  attention  to  the  fact  that  easy  ad- 
mission and  indifferent  management  invite  people  to  shirk 
a  legitimate  burden  ;  and  this  in  turn  has  led  to  more  careful 
investigation  and  commitment.  The  natural  feeling  that  a 
child  ought  to  be  in  a  family  has  produced  several  alterna- 
tive methods,  such  as  the  cottage  system  and  placing-out. 
Most  important  of  all,  institution  methods  have  themselves 
been  greatly  modified  and  improved  by  the  introduction  of 
kindergarten  work  for  the  smaller  children,  and  industrial 
training  for  the  older  ones.  In  many  smaller  orphanages 
and  homes,  the  practice  —  first  introduced  by  the  Hebrew- 
Americans  —  of  sending  the  children  to  the  public  schools 
has  produced  excellent  results. 

The  earlier  foundations  for  children,  many  of  which  have 
grown  to  considerable  size,  were  nearly  all  in  cities  and 
towns.  Perhaps  the  most  promising  development  is  at 
present  the  moving  of  these  institutions  to  the  country, 
where  they  have  a  large  tract  of  land  and  where  cottages 
instead  of  large  dormitories  are  the  prevailing  system.  The 
experiences  of  Mr.  R.  R.  Reeder,  in  moving  the  New  York 
Orphan  Asylum  from  Manhattan  to  the  country,  were  fully 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  285 

described  by  him  in  a  series  of  magazine  articles  which,  have 
probably  had  considerable  influence  in  inducing  the  removal 
and  the  change  to  the  household  system  in  a  number  of  other 
institutions. ■■ 

Another  modification  of  the  strict  institution  plan  has 
been  the  combination  with  it  of  some  degree  of  placing-out 
in  families.  A  very  large  number,  perhaps  the  majority,  of 
orphanages  and  children's  homes  are  now,  in  theory  at  least, 
temporary  refuges  from  which  children  are  returned  to 
family  life.  While  many  have  not  developed  proper 
methods  of  placing-out,  and  do  not  provide  for  sufficiently 
careful  or  long-extended  supervision,  yet  the  tendency  is 
both  marked  and  encouraging.  As  a  result  of  all  these 
changes  in  the  character  and  methods  of  institutions  for 
children,  a  number  of  the  most  serious  disadvantages  are 
minimized  if  not  entirely  eliminated.  To  overcome  the 
physical  inferiority  of  dependent  children,  a  better  and 
more  abundant  diet  is  provided,  and  the  cooperation  of  the 
child  himself  is  enlisted  to  make  of  himself  a  fine  animal. 
To  develop  and  use  the  play  instinct,  playhouses,  individual 
toys  and  amusements,  space,  freedom,  and  raw  materials  of 
play  are  provided.  To  inculcate  honesty,  thrift,  and  adapta- 
bility, industrial  training  is  given,  not  of  the  factory  type, 
but  as  Mr.  Reeder  denominates  it,  —  "of  the  old-fashioned, 
home-making,  sustaining,  bread-winning  kind."  In  the 
New  York  Orphan  Asylum  it  includes  housekeeping,  cook- 
ing, sewing,  dining-room  service,  chamber '  service,  laundry 
work,  manual  training,  gardening,  poultry  raising,  and  flori- 
culture. Methods  similar  to  those  in  the  normal  home  have 
been  devised  for  teaching  children  how  to  earn  money,  to 
save  money,  and  how  to  spend  money  and  give  money  wisely. 
The  system  of  education  employs  as  its  basis  the  materials 

1  Articles  in  Charities,  vols.  xiii.  to  xvii.  See  indices  under  title, 
"  To  Country  and  Cottage."  Instances  of  other  institutions  will  be  found 
in  Charities,  vol.  xiv.,  p.  647;  vol.  xvii.,  pp.  291,  324. 


286  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

and  experience  of  the  child  outside  the  class  room.  In  short, 
the  aim  is  to  supplant  the  mechanical,  impersonal,  and 
suppressive  system  with  one  founded  upon  the  ideal  of  a 
normal  home;  one  which  offers  "a  rich,  full,  free,  natural, 
individual  life"  and  so  prepares  for  life.^ 

Over  against  the  institution  plan  of  caring  for  dependent 
children  is  the  system  of  placing  them  in  private  families. 
There  are  two  tolerably  distinct  forms  of  this  work.  In 
one,  the  children  are  sent  to  a  great  distance,  and  given  but 
little  subsequent  supervision —  that  is,  they  are"  emigrated"; 
in  the  other  they  are  placed  within  easy  reach  of  the  agency 
having  them  in  charge,  and  are  systematically  and  con- 
stantly supervised. 

From  London  a  large  number  of  children  have  been  sent 
to  the  colonies.  The  emigration  bureau,  operating  in  con- 
nection with  Dr.  Barnardo's  Homes  in  Canada,  drops  the 
child  amid  new  surroundings,  as  carefully  as  may  be  con- 
venient, and  then  keeps  only  so  much  track  of  him  as  is 
necessary  to  show  contributors  or  others  that  a  goodly  pro- 
portion of  cases  turn  out  well.  The  child  is  simply  given 
one  more  chance  to  sink  or  swim.  It  is  found  that  foster 
parents  are  more  readily  obtained  for  children  coming  from 
a  distance,  probably  because  it  is  less  likely  that  the  natural 
parents  will  reclaim  them. 

Aside  from  the  obvious  difficulties  attending  the  protec- 
tion of  children  at  such  distance  from  the  supervising 
society,  there  are  more  fundamental  objections  made  to  this 
form  of  placing-out.  Professor  Devine  points  out  that  it 
is  an  attempt  to  transfer  the  b^^rden  of  dependency  from 
the  cities  to  agricultural  communities.  Several  States  have 
passed  laws  regulating  the  placing-out  of  children  by 
foreign  societies  or  non-residents.  There  is  an  increasing 
sentiment  toward  making  each  community  carry  its  own 
economic  and  social  burdens,  and  in  this  respect  the  board- 
1  Reeder,  N.  C.  C.,  1907,  pp.  265-274. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  287 

ing-out  is  far  more  just  than  the  placing-out  system.  Pro- 
fessor Devine  further  urges  that  all  forms  of  placing-out 
ignore  the  need  of  high  professional  skill.  The  care  of 
dependent  children  is  manifestly  more  difficult  than  of  chil- 
dren in  normal  family  relations  ;  and  in  the  case  of  children 
who  are  physically  weak  or  defective  or  morally  perverted, 
the  good  institution  may  succeed  better  than  any  foster 
parents  are  likely  to  do.^ 

In  the  United  States  the  greatest  agency  for  emigrating 
children  to  the  West  has  been  the  Children's  Aid  Society  of 
Kew  York,  founded  by  Charles  L.  Brace  in  1853.  Up  to 
1892  they  had  emigrated  81,318  children,  of  whom  51,427 
were  boys  and  32,891  were  girls.  Some  of  these  were  not 
sent  to  a  great  distance,  nearly  39,000  of  them  being  placed 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  4149  in  New  Jersey,  etc.  The 
Western  States  receiving  the  largest  number  were  Illinois, 
to  which  7366  were  sent ;  Iowa,  4852 ;  Missouri,  4835 ; 
Indiana,  3782 ;  Kansas,  3310;  Michigan,  2900 ;  Minnesota, 
2448.^  The  work  of  this  society  very  well  illustrates  the 
advantages  and  the  limitation  of  the  emigration  plan.  The 
earliest  groups  were  taken  to  these  Western  States  at  slight 
expense,  given  over  to  families  without  investigation,  and 
scarcely  supervised  at  all ;  many  of  the  boys  were  over 
fourteen,  and  in  consequence  o#  these  careless  and  unwise 
methods  the  results  Avere  unsatisfactory.  As  the  cost  of 
following  up  these  children  in  such  numbers  would  have 
been  prohibitive,  they  were,  for  the  most  part,  lost  sight  of, 
and  severe  criticism  of  the  society  followed. 

Since  about  1890  the  society  has  pursued  a  policy  of 
emigrating  fewer  children  and  supervising  them  more  care- 
fully.    In   1906,   718   orphan   or   deserted    children    were 

1  Devine,  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  113  ff. 

2  "  History  of  Child  Saving,"  p.  30.  See  also  pamphlet  published  by 
the  Society,  1893,  "The  Children's  Aid  Society  of  New  York,  its  History, 
Plan,  and  Results,"  and  Hart,  N.  C.  C,  1884,  pp.  149-150. 


288  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

placed  out  and  1889  younger  children,  established  in  homes 
in  former  years,  were  under  the  supervision  of  two  officers 
and  eleven  agents,  at  a  total  cost  of  f  37,000.^ 

The  placing-out  system,  properly  so  called,  —  that  is,  the 
placing  of  children  where  they  are  easily  accessible  to  the 
agency  responsible  for  them,  —  has  been  practised  for  a 
long  time  by  the  officers  of  the  Poor  Law  Unions  of  Eng- 
land and  of  American  towns  and  counties.  Children  were 
simply  kept  in  the  almshouses  until  old  enough  so  that 
somebody  would  take  them.  Mr.  Folks,  in  writing  of  this 
system  of  disposing  of  pauper  children,  says  that  in  the 
third  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  almshouses  and 
orphanages  made  more  or  less  use  of  indenture,  adoption, 
or  placing-out ;  many  children  were  bound  out  at  twelve 
or  fourteen  years  of  age.  There  was  no  adequate  inquiry 
into  the  circumstances  of  the  persons  receiving  them,  nor 
any  system  of  subseqiient  oversight.  This  was,  of  course, 
placing-out  at  its  worst. ^ 

Placing-out  in  its  later  and  more  carefully  guarded  form 
has  been  carried  to  satisfactory  results  by  such  public  insti- 
tutions as  the  State  Board  of  Charity  in  Massachusetts  and 
the  State  School  for  Dependent  Children  at  Coldwater, 
Michigan,  and  by  such  private  associations  as  the  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society  of  Massachusetts  and  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  of  Pennsylvania.  With  such  agencies  as  these  it  is 
carried  on  by  trained  persons  and  with  every  precaution  to 
guard  the  welfare  of  the  child.  There  is  ordinarily  a  cen- 
tral society,  sometimes  assisted  by  a  county  committee, 
which  receives  children  from  the  overseers  or  directors  of 
the  poor  or  from  others.  Some  societies  keep  the  child  a 
short  time  in  a  temporary  home  to  study  him  and  to 
prepare  him  for  the  family  to  which  he  is  to  be  sent.  Fre- 
quently they  are  placed  in  the  county  where  they  become 

1  Ajinual  Report,  190G. 

2  "  Care  of  Depeudeut  Children,"  etc.,  pp.  64-65. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  289 

dependent ;  but  when  the  children  are  particularly  trouble- 
some, or  relatives  interfere,  or  the  family  name  is  un- 
favorably known  in  the  locality,  the  main  office  often 
removes  the  child  to  a  distant  part  of  the  State  or  to  an 
adjoining  State.  The  work  of  the  main  office  is  conducted 
under  the  supervision  of  the  managers  by  a  corps  of  salaried 
officials.  One  assistant  may  give  her  whole  time  to  the 
problem  of  homeless  mothers  with  young  children,  provid- 
ing for  them  service  places  to  which  they  can  take  their 
children.  Several  expert  workers  are  travelling  almost 
constantly,  investigating  families  who  have  applied  for 
children,  visiting  children  who  have  been  placed  out,  or 
taking  children  to  and  from  their  homes. 

Much  attention  is  given  to  the  elaboration  of  the  details 
of  administration,  in  order  to  throw  about  the  work  every 
possible  safeguard.  The  investigation  of  a  family  is  sys- 
tematic and  exhaustive,  and  is  carefully  recorded.  The 
applicant  fills  out  a  blank  containing  many  questions  relat- 
ing to  the  various  phases  of  the  family  life,  as  church 
relations,  distance  from  school,  size  of  farm,  occupation, 
number  of  members  of  family,  with  their  ages,  etc.  A  study 
of  this  return  usually  reveals  the  real  motive  of  the  applica- 
tioD,  and  gives  the  data  for  an  opinion  as  to  the  material 
fitness  of  the  family.  Their  moral  fitness  is  ascertained  by 
sending  a  list  of  questions  to  several  of  the  neighbors,  stat- 
ing that  their  replies  are  confidential,  and  that  the  appeal 
to  them  is  not  known  to  the  applicant.  A  personal  visit 
completes  the  investigation.  After  the  child  is  placed  out, 
his  welfare  is  ascertained  and  protected  by  from  one  to  five 
personal  and  unannounced  visits  each  year,  by  a  monthly 
report  from  the  teacher  of  the  public  schools,  and  a 
quarterly  report  from  the  pastor.  The  agreement  is  per- 
fectly flexible,  and  subject  to  change  from  year  to  year  to 
suit  the  circumstances  of  each  individual  case. 

Massachusetts  and  Michigan  are  the  two  States  whose 


290 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


public  officials  have  done  especially  notable  work  in  plac- 
ing-out.  In  Massachusetts  the  system  combines  boarding- 
out  and  free  placing-out,  without  any  institutions  except 
temporaiy  homes  for  reception  of  children  for  a  very  short 
time,  and  two  industrial  institutions  for  older  delinquents. 
The  system  is  elaborately  guarded,  has  a  large  complement 
of  trained  workers,  and  its  results  have  been  remarkable. 
A  comparison  of  the  numbers  cared  for  at  successive  peri- 
ods will  show  the  growth  and  tendencies  of  the  present 
system. 

TABLE   LX. 

Distribution  of  State  Minor  Wards* 


1S66. 

1S90. 

1900. 

State  Hospital 

State  Farm 

178 
66 
466 
332 
137 
259 

14:J7 
628 

37 

336 

185 
97 

72 

299 
187 

State  Primary  School 

Lyman  School 

State  Industrial  School 

School  Ship 

Total 

655 
1046 

274 

558 
1691 
1493 

In  Families  without  Board 

In  Families  with  Board 

Aggregate 

Percentage  of  Whole  Number : 

In  Institutions 

2065 

70. 
30. 

1975 

33. 
63. 
14. 

3742 

15. 
46. 
40. 

In  Families  without  Board 

In  Families  with  Board 

♦Report  State  Board  of   Charity,  1901,  p.  41;    Folks,  "Care  of  Dependent  Chil- 
dren," etc.,  pp.  150  flf. 


It  will  be  seen  from  this  digest  that  only  15  per  cent  of 
3742  dependent  children  in  Massachusetts  are  in  institu- 
tions, 45  per  cent  in  families  without  board,  and  40  per  cent 
in  families  with  board.  In  general,  where  boarding-out  is 
combined  with  free  placing,  as  in  Pennsylvania  by  the  Chil- 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  291 

dren's  Aid  Society  and  in  Massachusetts  by  public  officials, 
the  children  under  twelve  are  first  placed  with  payment  of 
board.  In  a  majority  of  cases  they  are  kept  in  these  homes 
free  as  they  grow  older,  sometimes  with  payment  of  wages, 
but  still  under  the  constant  supervision  and  protection  of 
the  authority  which  placed  them. 

Another  successful  form  of  placing-out  by  public  officials 
is  practised  in  Michigan.  Its  central  idea  is  a  State  Public 
School,  which  is  a  part  of  the  educational  system  of  the 
State,  under  State  supervision  and  support.  It  is  neither 
penal  nor  reformatory,  but  simply  provides  a  temporary 
educational  home,  where  the  child  is  prepared  for  placing 
in  a  family.  The  methods  of  placing  and  supervision  are 
similar  to  those  already  described,  and  the  results  are 
shown  statistically  in  a  statement  made  by  the  superin- 
tendent in  1904. 

Received  since  school  opened,  1874 5471 

In  families  on  indenture  June  1,  1904 1210 

In  families  on  trial       75 

Placed  in  families  and  residence  unknown  for  over  one 

year 30 

Total  from  whom  reports  are  to  be  obtained       ....  1315 

Remaining  in  institution  June  1,  1904 171 

Total  present  wards  of  the  school 1486 

Returned  to  counties  by  order  of  the  board 675 

Died  in  families  and  in  the  school 197 

Adopted 603 

Have  become  of  legal  age 348 

Girls  married 178 

Have  been  restored  to  parents 583 

Have  become  self-supporting 1406 


5471     5471* 

*  N.  C.  C,  1904,  pp.  320  flf. 

Mr.  Folks  has  said  that  this  system  is  the  distinctively 
American  contribution  to  public  systems  of  child-saving 
work.     It  is  extraordinarily  economical,  shows  no  signs  of 


292  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

unduly  increasing  the  numbers  of  dependent  children,  and 
has  the  advantage  of  centralized  State  administration.  The 
only  serious  objections  urged  against  it  are  its  liability  to 
the  influence  of  partisan  politics  and  the  fact  that  it  checks 
the  development  of  private  charity  in  this  direction.  It 
does  not  appear  from  the  history  of  Michigan  and  of  the 
several  States  which  have  copied  the  system — particularly 
Minnesota  and  Wisconsin  —  that  politics  are  more  rife  than 
in  private  institutions.  As  for  private  charity,  there  will 
remain  enough  channels  for  its  development,  and  after  all 
the  restoration  of  the  child  to  self-support  and  self-respect 
in  the  community  is  the  test  of  the  method. 

An  early  form  of  child-care,  which  originated  in  the  effort 
to  take  children  out  of  almshouses,  is  the  County  Children's 
Home  system,  which  arose  in  Ohio  in  1866  and  was  copied 
in  Indiana  and  Connecticut.  About  half  the  counties  in 
Ohio  maintain  county  homes,  and  more  than  25,000  children 
have  stayed  in  them  an  average  of  three  years  each.  Orig- 
inally it  was  intended  that  they  should  be  placed  out  as 
soon  as  possible,  but  probably  not  more  than  one-third  have 
been  so  provided  for.  No  careful  statistics  of  placing  or 
supervision  have  been  kept.  On  the  whole,  this  method 
appears  to  have  secured  very  few  if  any  of  the  advantages 
of  the  cottage-institution  or  the  placing-out  features,  and 
totally  lacks  the  advantage  of  centralized  administration. 

The  system  of  public  support  in  private  institutions  will 
be  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  Subsidies.  It  is  sufficient 
here  to  say  that  as  heretofore  practised  —  especially  in 
California  and  New  York  —  it  is  the  most  expensive,  the 
least  guarded,  and,  judged  by  the  return  of  the  children  to 
self-support  in  the  community,  the  least  satisfactory  of  all. 
In  New  York  it  has  recently  been  reformed  so  as  to  check 
its  worst  abuses,  but  it  is  distinctly  "  on  trial "  in  the 
States  where  it  prevails,  and  must  be  greatly  modified  if  it 
is  not  to  be  superseded  in  the  coming  generation.     The 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN. 


293 


Census  of  Benevolent  Institutions  in  1904  furnishes  a  crude 
measure  of  the  results  of  the  systems  which  have  been  dis- 
cussed. Less  than  half  the  States  have  a  definite  system  of 
public  child-care,  and  eighteen  have  none  at  all. 


TABLE   LXI. 

Public  Systems  of  Child-cake.* 

Children  in  Orphanages  and  Homes,  per  100,000  of  the  Population, 
Dec.  31,  1904. 


No.  PER 

No.  PER 

System. 

100,000 

OP 

System. 

100,000 

OF 

POPITLATION. 

Population. 

Public  Support  in 

State  School  and 

Private  Institutions  : 

Placing-out : 

New  York       .     . 

317.3 

Michigan .     .     . 

65.6 

California .     .     . 

290.8 

Minnesota     .     . 

62.4 

Maryland  .     .     . 

172.5 

"Wisconsin     .     . 

57.2 

District  of  Colum- 

Rhode Island     . 

161.4 

bia    .... 

321.4 

Kansas     .     .     . 

38.1 

County  Homes : 

Colorado  .     ,     . 

108.8 

Ohio      .... 

175.1 

Nebraska      .     . 

36.8 

Indiana     ,     .     . 

110.1 

Montana  .     .     . 

114.7 

Connecticut   .     . 

188.1 

Texas  .... 

31.0 

Boarding  and 

Placing-out : 

Massachusetts     . 

129.0 

Pennsylvania 

153.6 

New  Jersey    .     . 

124.6 

♦Systems  from  Folks,  "Dependent  Children,"  etc.,  1902;  figures  from  Census 
(1904),  "Benevolent  Institutions,"  p.  29.  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Washington  have  a 
mixed  system  ;  Delaware,  North  Carolina,  Maine,  Oregon,  and  New  Hampshire  ap- 
propriate gross  amounts,  a  method  allied  to  public  subsidy,  and  the  remaining  States 
have  no  system. 

Since  other  factors  besides  the  mere  system  help  to  deter- 
mine the  number  of  children  dependent  on  public  care,  too 
much  emphasis  should  not  be  laid  on  the  contrasts  in  these 


294  AMERICAN  CIIABITIES. 

figures.  But  the  general  inference  that  the  number  of  de- 
pendent children  in  proportion  to  the  population  is  a  measure 
of  the  success  of  the  system  is  justified  by  the  opinions  of 
the  foremost  workers  in  this  field.  By  this  standard  the 
system  of  placing  in  families,  either  from  a  State  school  or 
of  boarding  and  placing  from  temporary  shelters,  gives  the 
best  results,  and  the  public  contract  system  the  poorest. 

In  1906  the  Standing  Committee  on  Children  of  the  Na- 
tional Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections  formulated  a 
"  consensus  of  opinion  "  on  this  subject.  The  substantial 
agreement  reached  among  those  who  have  studied  the  child 
problem  is  stated  briefly.^ 

1.  Every  reasonable  effort  should  be  made  to  repair 
breaches  and  defects  in  the  home  before  breaking  up  the 
family  relation. 

2.  Institutional  care  of  healthy,  normal  children  for  long 
periods  is  objectionable ;  it  should  be  a  temporary  expedi- 
ent, to  afford  training  preparatory  to  family  life  or  physical 
renovation  through  surgery,  medicine,  or  diet,  or  to  assist 
parents  in  temporary  distress. 

3.  Institutional  care  for  educational  purposes  is  necessary 
for  a  portion  of  the  deaf  and  blind,  and  for  a  portion  of  the 
delinquent  children. 

4.  Permanent  institutional  care  all  through  life  is  desir- 
able for  feeble-minded,  epileptic,  and  cei'tain  crippled,  de- 
formed, or  otherwise  incurable  children. 

5.  The  selected  family  home  of  foster  parents  is  the  best 
substitute  for  the  natural  home;  it  may  be  used  either  as  a 
boarding  home,  or  a  free  home  under  close  supervision,  or 
as  an  adoptive  home.  It  is  universally  agreed  that  the 
placing-out  system  demands  the  utmost  care  in  selecting 
homes  and  constant  oversight  in  order  to  prevent  children 
from  being  neglected  or  abused. 

6.  There  is  a  growing  sentiment  in  favor  of  public  super- 

^  A  digest  rather  thau  a  direct  quotation. 


DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  295 

vision  of  the  placing-out  work  of  private  agencies,  which  has 
taken  the  form  of  law  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Michigan, 
Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  other  States. 

7.  Small  institutions  are  at  a  great  disadvantage  in  plac- 
ing children  in  families,  owing  to  the  expense  and  may  do 
their  work  through  reliable  placing-out  agencies. 

On  the  whole,  the  placing-out  system  deserves  the  commen- 
dation it  has  received  from  the  most  advanced  specialists. 
If  administered  ''  with  an  adequate  supply  of  eternal  vigi- 
lance," it  is  economical,  kindly,  and  efficient.  If  badly 
administered,  it  leads  to  very  obvious  abuses ;  but  at  its 
best  it  is  the  best  system. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  institutions  which  have  been 
occupied  in  rearing  all  kinds  of  children  will  gradually  be 
used  for  special  classes  of  defectives  and  incapables,  and  as 
technical  and  industrial  schools  for  older  children.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  "  emigration  "  of  children  and  the  losing  of 
them  without  responsibility,  control,  or  protection,  which 
characterized  the  earlier  methods  of  placing  out,  will  not  be 
tolerated,  but  will  be  replaced  by  a  system  of  strict  account- 
ability and  expert  agencies.  Already  in  five  cities  there  are 
bureaus  of  information  where  trained  service  can  be  had  in 
the  diagnosis  of  the  case  of  any  needy  child,  and  the  best 
information  and  advice  for  the  asking.^  In  the  conclusion 
of  this  chapter,  attention  should  be  called  to  the  fact  that  it 
is  less  in  child-caring  than  in  child-saving  work  that  really 
helpful  results  are  to  be  found.  Newsboys'  lodging-houses, 
industrial  schools,  reading  rooms,  home  libraries,  settlement 
clubs,  and  the  countless  agencies  for  benefiting  the  street 
child,  carried  on  by  a  variety  of  organizations,  are  doing  the 
work  of  prevention.^     The  same  is  true  of  the  societies  for 

1  Report  Philadelphia  Society  for  Organizing  Charity,  1907,  p.  22 ;  Pear, 
N.  C.  C,  1907. 

2  See  especially  reports  of  New  York  Children's  Aid  Society  and  Massa- 
chusetts Children's  Aid  Society. 


296  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

the  protection  of  cliildren  from  cruelty  and  immorality ;  and, 
as  we  have  already  noted,  specialist  organizations  should  be 
called  in  to  classify  and  assign  to  the  proper  child-caring 
agency  the  children  that  are  to  be  dependent.  It  is  to  these 
classes  of  organizations  also  that  we  must  look  for  help  in 
the  proper  discharge  of  children  from  dependency ;  and  it 
is  especially  to  them  that  we  look  for  a  system  of  socio- 
logical bookkeeping  that  will  enable  us  to  tell  with  definite- 
ness  what  is  being  accomplished,  —  how  the  children  "turn 
out."  There  is  no  better  fund  of  raw  material  for  sociolog- 
ical study  than  the  records  of  the  children's  aid  societies 
and  other  advanced  child-caring  agencies  of  the  United 
States. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE  DESTITUTE  SICK. 

Within  the  past  thirty  years  the  hospitals  of  the  country 
have  had  a  very  rapid  development,  coming  in  part  from 
the  influx  of  foreign  population  accustomed  to  seek  hospi- 
tal service,  in  part  from  the  increasing  density  of  popula- 
tion, but  very  largely,  without  doubt,  from  the  increased 
efficiency  of  the  hospitals.  Formerly  a  hospital  was  re- 
garded as  a  place  that  every  one  should  stay  away  from  if 
he  could.  It  was  a  place  where  the  shattered  wrecks  of 
armies  must  be  taken,  where  the  homeless  stranger  must 
seek  refuge  if  overtaken  by  sickness,  and  where  the  ab- 
jectly destitute  must  necessarily  be  cared  for.  But  of  late 
the  improvements  in  medical  art,  and  especially  in  surgical 
processes,  have  enabled  hospitals  to  render  better  service 
than  can  be  given  even  in  the  homes  of  the  well-to-do ; 
and,  as  a  consequence,  there  has  been  a  greatly  increased 
demand  for  accommodations  for  pay  patients,  and  with  the 
growth  of  every  hospital  has  come  also  the  growth  of  free 
wards.  The  increase  in  the  number  of  free  beds  and  the 
increase  in  efficiency  have  rendered  the  poorer  classes  less 
disinclined  to  seek  refuge  in  the  hospital,  and  especially  to 
resort  for  free  consultation  and  medicine  to  the  dispensaries. 

Table  LXII.  (p.  298),  from  the  Federal  Census  of  1904, 
gives  a  summary  of  the  hospitals  of  a  distinctly  benevolent 
character  and  of  the  proportion  of  persons  admitted  during 
the  year,  per  100,000  of  population.  Since  all  institutions 
conducted  for  private  profit  have  been  omitted,  the  table 
does  not  by  any  means  indicate  the  full  extent  of  existing 
hospital  facilities. 

297 


298 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


TABLE  LXII. 
Hospitals  in  the  United  States.* 


S lATB  OR  Territory. 


United  States 


Alabama     .... 

Arizona 

Arkansas  .... 
California  .... 
Colorado  .... 
Connecticut  .  .  . 
Delaware  .... 
District  of  Columbia 
Florida 


Georgia.  .  .  . 
Idaho  .  .  .  . 
Illinois  .  .  .  . 
Indian  Territory 
Indiana  .  .  .  . 
Iowa 


Kansas  .     .     .  . 

Kentucky  .     .  . 

Louisiana   .     .  . 

Maine     .     .     .  . 

Maryland    .     .  . 

Massachusetts  . 

Michigan    .     .  . 

Minnesota .     .  . 

Mississippi      .  . 

Missouri     .     .  . 

Montana     .     .  . 

Nebraska   .     .  . 

Nevada       .     .  . 
New  Hampshire 

New  Jersey    .  . 

New  Mexico  .  . 

New  York      .  . 

North  Carolina  . 
North  Dakota 

Ohio 

Oklahoma  .     .  . 

Oregon  .     .     .  . 

Pennsylvania .  . 

Khode  Island  .  . 

South  Carolina  . 
South  Dakota 

Tennessee  .     .  . 

Texas     .     .     .  . 

Utah      .     .     .  . 

Vermont    .     .  . 

Virginia      .     .  . 

Wa.shington    .  . 

West  Virginia  . 

Wisconsin  .     .  . 

Wyoming  .     .  . 


9 
10 
13 
50 
32 
21 

3 
13 
IT 
IT 

6 
105 

2 
31 
41 
23 
29 
10 
12 
32 
93 
59 
41 

6 
55 
16 
IT 


19 
48 
11 
194 
21 


1 

6 

145 

9 

8 

8 

13 

31 

T 

9 

19 

28 

20 

43 


Number  of 
Patients 


Admitted 

during 

1904. 


1,064,512 


4,591 

2,22T 

8,124 

48,506 

13,140 

17,708 

9S8 

15,589 

1,786 

7,333 

1,494 

85,601 

905 

11,136 

13,985 

9,136 

11,209 

19,912 

6,2T4 

23,435 

73,485 

21,784 

22,633 

2,372 

50,014 

5,270 

6,463 

3,792 
38,345 

2,177 

246,520 

4,110 

2,036 

51,997 

(a) 

5,945 

124,007 

9,249 

1,211 

1,669 

10,628 

22,356 

3,359 

2,990 

13,936 

13,110 

6,216 

19,718 

991 


Remain- 
ing Dec. 
31,  1904. 


71,530 


211 

1.58 

257 

2,897 

1,176 

759 

52 

717 

176 

338 

111 

5,344 

87 

813 

876 

665 

878 

1,042 

405 

1,621 

4,450 

1,269 

1,492 

1.52 

2,946 

460 

426 

'2*29 

2,372 

685 

15,668 

227 

117 

5,523 

(«) 

365 

11,261 

402 

120 

98 
448 
823 
172 
140 
536 
993 
369 
1,223 

66 


Number  of  Patients  peii 
100,000  OF  Population 


Admitted  dur- 
ing 1904. 


1,309.3 


234.5 

1,660.9 

225.3 

3,039.8 

2,222.1 

1,816.9 

516.8 

5,223.8 

305.5 

309.3 

779.5 

1,637.4 

189. 1 

420.4 

592.0 

614.1 

494.9 

1,337.2 

886.0 

1,878.5 

2,420.0 

860.2 

1,171.8 

143.1 

1,524.3 

1,853.5 

605.3 

'890'.3 
1,858.9 
1,038.6 
3,166.8 

204.8 

548.1 

1,193.8 

(a) 

1,313.3 

1,843.0 

1,999.9 

85.4 

894.4 

500.4 

601.8 

1,106.1 

85S.6 

720.2 

2,245.7 

59S.4 

887.2 

945.9 


*  Census,  "  Benevolent  Institutions,"  1904,  p.  32.        (o)  Not  reported. 


THE  DESTITUTE  SICK.  299 

It  would  be  misleading  to  draw  conclusions  from  the 
mere  numbers  of  hospitals  and  hospital  inmates  as  here 
presented,  since  one  particular  institution  may  do  better 
work  than  several  smaller  ones  in  a  given  community,  or 
vice  versa.  The  variations  as  between  States  point  to  the 
greater  needs  of  urban  districts  on  the  one  hand  and,  on  the 
other,  to  the  different  degrees  of  charitable  development. 
It  is  evident  that  in  many  instances  hospital  facilities  are 
not  proportioned  to  the  needs  of  the  locality.  In  a  very 
general  way,  the  fact  that,  of  two  States  very  similar  as  to 
general  conditions,  one  shows  a  ratio  of  admissions  twice  as 
large  as  the  other,  may  be  taken  in  most  cases  to  mean  that 
in  the  one,  hospital  facilities  are  proportionately  more  ample. 

Table  LXIII.  (p.  300)  shows  the  proportion  of  the  cost  of 
maintenance  borne  by  public  taxation,  by  private  charity, 
and  by  pay  patients. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  burden  of  support  is  distributed 
very  unequally.  Six  States,  —  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Massachusetts,  Illinois,  California,  and  Ohio,  —  containing 
about  35  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the  country, 
contribute  over  eighteen  million  dollars,  or  about  two-thirds 
of  the  cost ;  twenty-one  other  States,  containing  about  the 
same  percentage  of  population,  spend  only  six  millions.^ 
Five  States,  —  Missouri,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Minnesota, 
and  Michigan,  —  comprising  13.6  per  cent  of  population, 
pay  13.5  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  hospitals ;  while  the  re- 
maining 17  States,  containing  15.5  per  cent  of  the  popula- 
tion, pay  only  3.5  per  cent  of  this  public  burden. 

The  total  amount  received  by  hospitals  from  public  sub- 
sidies constituted  18  per  cent  on  the  average  of  the  cost  of 
maintenance.     The  commonwealths  granting   subsidies  of 

1  Conuecticut,  Colorado,  Wisconsin,  Texas,  Iowa,  Montana,  Washington, 
District  of  Columbia,  New  Mexico,  Louisiana,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Rhode 
Island,  Maine,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Virginia,  Georgia,  Tennessee,  West 
Virginia,  New  Hampshire. 


300 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


TABLE   LXIII. 
Hospitals:   Cost  and  Solkces  of  Maintenance,  1903.* 


State  or  Teeritobt. 


Cost  of 

Maintenance, 

1903. 


Annual  Sub- 
sidies FROM 

Public 

Funds.  1903. 

Per  Cent 

OF  Cost  op 

Maintenance 


United  States 


$2S,200,SC9 


18.1 


Alabama     . 

Arizona 

Arkansas    . 

California    . 

Colorado     . 

Connecticut 

Delaware    . 

District  of  Columbia 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho   .... 

Illinois 

Indian  Territory     . 

Indiana 

Iowa     .... 

Kansas 

Kentucky  . 

Louisiana  . 

Maine  .... 

Maryland    . 

Massachusetts 

Michigan     . 

Minnesota  . 

Mississippi 

Missouri     . 

Montana     . 

Nebraska   . 

Nevada 

New  Hampshire     . 

New  Jersey 

New  Mexico     . 

New  York 

North  Carolina 

North  Dakota  . 

Ohio     .... 

Oklahoma  . 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania   . 

Rhode  Island    . 

South  Carolina 

South  Dakota  . 

Tennessee  . 

Tex.as   .... 

Utah    .... 

Vermont    . 

Virginia 

Washington 

West  Virginia  . 

Wisconsin  . 

Wyoming  . 


76,706 

90,436 

52,070 

1,450,123 

459,970 

464,037 

28,484 
291,222 

69,318 
152,017 

33,907 
2,165,847 

14,547 
255,821 
843,956 
184,387 
253,487 
260,345 
231,640 
719,921 
2,702,646 
624,343 
633,076 

31,872 
919,865 
800,359 
175,078 

116;2b7 

801,529 

208,661 

6,732,983 

94,911 

48,154 

1,423,245 

4,105 

72,058 

8,637,671 

234,044 

54,349 

54,313 

150,073 

352,416 

76,626 

68,914 

174,921 

299,460 

130,761 

392,339 

27,049 


17.8 

12.4 
3.9 
0.0 
0.8 

20.1 
1.8 

33.4 
2.0 

22.3 

I'.i 

'2.6 
2.1 
2.5 
4.7 
8.9 

14.3 

17.5 
2.7 
2.0 
0.5 

10.8 
0.9 
2.8 
10 

"7.4 
12.4 
3.8 
10.6 
24.5 

"1.9 

1.4 

20.0 
16.4 
1.8 
0.9 

'2.6 

'7.7 
5.5 
8.3 
4.6 
0.6 
1.3 


*  Census,  "Benevolent  Institutions,"  1904,  pp.  36-36. 


THE  DESTITUTE  SICK.  301 

more  than  18  per  cent  were  the  District  of  Columbia  (33.4), 
North  Carolina  (24.5),  Georgia  (22.3),  Connecticut  and 
Pennsylvania  (each  20.0).  The  total  amount  received  from 
pay  patients  constituted  43.2  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance. In  24  States,  including  some  doing  the  largest 
hospital  work,  as  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts, 
Ohio,  etc.,  such  income  was  less  than  half  the  total  cost  of 
maintenance ;  in  19  others  it  constituted  from  50  to  80  per 
cent;  in  Indian  Territory,  Nebraska,  North  Dakota,  and 
Oklahoma  it  was  from  82  to  94  per  cent ;  and  in  Utah  and 
Oregon  the  income  actually  exceeded  the  cost,  the  percent- 
ages being  11G.2  and  109.7.^ 

Mr.  John  Koren,  the  expert  census  agent,  remarks  that 
there  is  an  apparent  contradiction  in  describing  hospitals  as 
benevolent  institutions  when  the  amount  of  money  they 
receive  from  pay  patients  is  equal  to  or  in  excess  of  the 
cost  of  maintenance  ;  but  he  points  out  that  to  a  very  large 
extent  the  moneys  termed  income  do  not  represent  the 
personal  contributions  of  the  patients  or  their  relatives  and 
friends,  but  the  amounts  collected  from  the  public  authori- 
ties legally  responsible  for  their  support.  Furthermore, 
the  cost  of  maintenance  as  given  does  not  include  improve- 
ments or  general  equipment,  nor  the  services  of  many  phy- 
sicians and  attendants,  nor  the  endowments  which  may 
have  been  the  means  of  the  original  foundation,  which, 
taken  together,  would  constitute  a  large  item  properly 
termed  benevolent. 

The  Special  Census  Report  does  not  state  how  many  of 
the  inmates  of  hospitals  were  indigents,  and  it  would  be  a 
task  of  great  difficulty  to  find  out  how  many  of  the  beds 
were  really  free  to  those  filling  them.  There  are  those  who 
believe  that  eventually  hospital  service  will  be  free  to  all 

1  Table  LXII.  and  Table  LXIII.  are  condensed  from  those  in  the  Special 
Census  Report  on  "  Benevolent  Institutions,"  1904,  and  the  conclusions  aiQ 
a  brief  digest  of  Mr.  Keren's  comments. 


302  AMEBIC  AN  CHARITIES. 

willing  to  accept  of  it  at  public  expense,  just  as  for  the 
insane,  hospital  service  or  asylum  care  is  now  free  to  all 
willing  to  accept  of  it  in  some  States ;  or  as  education,  in- 
cluding support,  is  free  in  many  States  to  all  defectives. 

American  hospitals  are  so  careless  in  making  up  their 
reports  that  it  is  frequently  impossible  to  glean  the  facts 
important  in  estimating  their  efficiency.  The  expenditures 
per  patient  in  a  hospital  are  usually  large  for  the  small 
institutions,  and  relatively  small  for  the  large  institutions ; 
but  normally  depend  chiefly  upon  the  character  of  the  cases 
treated,  and  especially  whether  the  cases  are  chronic  or 
acute.  It  is  therefore  desirable  that  the  following  items 
should  find  a  place  in  the  reports  of  a  given  hospital :  — 

1.  The  average  daily  number  of  patients,  or  the  total 
number  of  days'  service  rendered  during  the  year.  Many 
hospital  reports  give  the  number  of  patients  treated,  but  no 
data  to  determine  the  average  daily  number  of  patients. 

2.  The  number  of  different  patients  treated  during  the 
year. 

3.  The  longest  time  any  one  patient  has  remained  in  the 
institution,  and  how  many,  if  any,  have  been  there  during 
the  whole  year.  Also,  the  average  length  of  time  patients 
remain.  This  is  to  indicate  whether  the  hospital  is  serving 
chronic  or  acute  cases,  an  item  of  great  importance  in  esti- 
mating the  proper  cost. 

4.  The  ratio  of  deaths  to  the  whole  number  disposed  of. 
The  death-rate  is  a  thing  about  which  competing  institutions 
wrangle  a  great  deal.  The  ratio  is  frequently  given  to  the 
whole  number  of  patients,  which  is  not  as  fair  as  the  method 
just  indicated.  It  is  sometimes  given  to  the  number  of  days' 
service  rendered,  which  is  meaningless,  because  many  of  the 
cases  may  be  chronic.  But  even  when  the  death-rate  is 
given  as  suggested  above,  it  may  or  may  not  indicate  good 
management  of  the  hospital.  Its  significance  is  still  am- 
biguous, for  it  may  be  kept  down  by  refusing  to  receive  all 


THE  DESTITUTE  SICK.  303 

cases  where  the  prognosis  is  death. ^  This  policy,  except 
possibly  iu  certain  special  institutions,  is  condeninable,  be- 
cause hospitals  for  the  poor  should  be  among  other  things 
comfortable  places  for  people  to  die  in.  The  refusal  of  doc- 
tors to  perform  operations  that  are  dangerous,  but  are  yet 
in  the  interests  of  the  patients,  may  also  keep  down  the 
death-rate,  but  does  not  indicate  efficiency. 

In  a  broad  way  the  per  capita  cost  of  hospital  service 
should  indicate  the  degree  of  efficiency ;  but  political  in- 
terference, in  city  and  county  hospitals  especially,  and 
wasteful  methods  on  the  part  of  the  management  and  the 
medical  staff,  often  result  in  high  cost  without  correspond- 
ing improvement  of  the  service.  In  the  United  States,  in 
1903,  the  highest  cost  per  capita  was  $2.25  at  Johns  Hop- 
kins ;  other  hospitals  having  200  or  more  beds  ranged  from 
$2.18  to  $1.68,  and  those  having  less  than  200  beds,  from 
$1.90  to  $1.24.  The  cost  has  been  rapidly  increasing  in 
recent  years,  owing  to  a  general  increase  in  the  cost  of  liv- 
ing, to  improved  methods  of  treatment,  higher  standards  of 
care,  and  better  Avages  for  nurses.  According  to  Professor 
Henderson,  the  cost  of  hospital  service  has  nearly  doubled 
since  1871." 

Tlie  primary  motive  operating  to  produce  a  multitude  of 
medical  charities  is  sympathy  with  the  poor  to  whom  sick- 
ness brings  the  menace  of  pauperism.  But  this  elementary 
emotion  is  reenforced  by  a  number  of  subsidiary  and  more 
selfish  motives.  Medical  institutions  usually  serve  a  pur- 
pose in  the  education  of  medical  students  and  young  physi- 
cians, and  almost  invariably  a  purpose  in  building  up  the 
reputation  of  the  physicians  and  surgeons  in  charge  of  them. 

1  Lord  Cathcart  remarks  that  moribund  cases  stand  a  doubtful  chance, 
or  no  chance,  of  being  taken  to  the  great  voluntary  hospitals  of  London. 
"  Hospitals,"  p.  13. 

2  Burdett,  "Hospitals,"  etc.,  p.  101;  Henderson,  "Modern  Methods  of 
Charity,"  pp.  454-455. 


304  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

There  are  cases,  indeed,  where  the  gratuitous  treatment  of 
all  applicants  has  in  it  no  element  of  charity,  the  clinic  be- 
ing worth  more  to  the  school  than  it  costs.  Advertisements 
are  frequently  kept  in  the  dailies  of  a  large  city,  announcing 
free  dentistry  to  all  who  care  to  receive  it.  The  person  re- 
sponding to  such  an  advertisement  will  be  attended  to  by  a 
student  with  more  or  less  skill,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
professor  in  a  school  of  dentistry ;  and  the  opportunity  of 
educating  the  student  is  fully  equivalent  to  the  services  ren- 
dered. A  lecturer  or  manager  of  a  clinic  of  a  medical  school 
sometimes  pays  a  patient  for  the  privilege  of  showing  some 
operation  or  disease  to  the  class.  This  is  not  only  free 
treatment,  but  jjay  is  given  for  the  privilege  of  treating. 

Eeligious  sentiment  has  played  a  considerable  part  in  all 
ages  in  the  establishment  of  medical  charities.  In  the 
United  States,  of  all  hospitals  under  private  management, 
about  one-third  are  under  church  control.  Sometimes  only 
applicants  of  a  particular  faith  are  admitted;  again  the 
medical  charity  has  been  maintained  in  order  to  propagate 
the  faith.  It  has  been  said  that  Peter  Parker,  in  opening 
the  first  hospital  in  China,  opened  China  to  the  influences 
of  modern  civilization  at  the  point  of  a  lancet.  In  modern 
times,  what  might  be  termed  the  economic  motive  has  actu- 
ated the  establishment  of  such  charities  in  order  to  restore 
the  poor  to  self-support  and  to  protect  the  public  health.^ 

Not  less  than  four  strong  motives,  therefore,  contribute 
to  the  development  of  medical  charities,  —  the  desire  to 
aid  the  destitute,  to  proselyte  for  some  religious  faith,  to 
educate  students  and  build  up  medical  reputations,  and  to 
protect  the  public  health.  The  latter  has  often  been  the 
leading  cause  of  public  appropriations  for  medical  charities. 
A  few  hospitals  decline  to  admit  students  to  their  advan- 
tages ;  but  the  uniform  testimony  of  medical  experts  seems 

1  On  motives,  etc.,  see  Dr.  Stepheu  Smith,  Charities  Review,  vol.  viii., 
1898,  pp.  9  fE. 


THE  DESTITUTE  SICK.  305 

to  be  that  the  teaching  hospitals  render  better  service  than 
the  non-teaching  institutions. 

As  the  result  of  these  powerful  incentives,  medical 
charities  are  inevitably  popular  and  tend  to  be  prodigal  and 
indiscriminate.  Dr.  Stephen  Smith  said  in  1898  that  there 
were  in  New  York  5000  vacant  beds  in  the  institutions  for 
children.  He  showed  that  for  more  than  half  a  century  the 
medical  charities  of  New  York  City  had  treated  about  16 
per  cent  of  the  population  as  sick  poor,  but  that  in  1898 
gratuitous  medical  relief  was  given  to  45  per  cent  of  the 
population,  —  an  amount  far  beyond  the  requirements  of  the 
needy  class.  Those  institutions  established  for  the  purpose 
of  teaching  medicine  or  of  propagating  a  religious  doctrine 
naturally  do  not  make  any  systematic  inquiry  into  the 
financial  condition  of  the  applicants,  and  as  a  consequence 
medical  charity  is  more  lavishly  and  indiscriminately  given 
than  other  forms  of  relief,  and  with  the  result  that  free 
medical  aid  is  often  the  beginning  of  pauperism.^ 

English  experience  in  this  matter  is  very  instructive. 
The  Medical  Times  has  said :  — 

"  The  amount  of  gratuitous  work  done  by  the  pi'ofession  in  no  way 
raises  it  in  public  estimation.  It  is  well  known  that  it  is  not  performed 
from  motives  of  charity,  but  for  the  position  that  is  gained  by  being 
attached  to  a  hospital  staff,  and  the  hope  of  a  good  practice  accruing 
therefrom." 

The  British  Medical  Jo^irnal  asserted  that  hospitals  com- 
peted with  each  other  as  to  the  number  of  patients,  without 
regard  to  the  fitness  of  the  cases  or  the  position  of  the 
applicants.  In  the  Children's  Hospital  of  London,  when 
the  rule  was  adopted  of  referring  all  applicants  to  the  Charity 
Organization  Society,  and  where  no  patients  were  excluded 
provided  that  the  parents  were  making  less  than  30  shillings 
a  week,  there  was  found  an  abuse  rate  of  57  per  cent.^ 

1  N.  C.  C,  1898,  pp.  320  ff. ;  see  also  Dr.  J.  J.  Nutt  in  Charities, 
vol.  xiv.,  1900,  pp.  752  ff.  2  Rentoul,  "  Voluntary  Medical  Charities." 


306  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

In  the  United  States  the  qualification  for  admission  to  a 
hospital  as  such  is  disease ;  for  admission  to  a  free  bed, 
there  should  be  the  additional  qualification  of  destitution; 
but  this  latter  point  is  usually  not  insisted  upon.  The  com- 
petition of  medical  schools,  and  of  individual  institutions,  is 
usually  so  great  that  no  one  willing  to  put  up  with  the 
inconvenience,  and  to  take  the  risks  of  free  hospital  treat- 
ment, is  refused.  People  enter  hospitals  as  pay  patients 
only  if  they  wish  some  special  advantages  or  privileges. 
That  people  are  admitted  to  free  beds  without  investigation 
is  especially  true  in  those  places  where  the  private  insti- 
tutions admit  patients  for  whom  the  municipality  or  county 
pays  the  bills.  This  is  the  system  in  vogue  in  large  cities 
where  the  subsidy  system  obtains. 

In  some  cities  it  is  required  that  any  one  admitted  to  a 
free  bed  at  the  expense  of  the  State  must  secure  a  permit 
either  from  the  Health  Department  or  the  poor-law  officers. 
An  agent  of  the  Health  Department  goes  through  the  hospi- 
tal wards  weekly  or  semi-monthly,  to  see  what  patients  paid 
for  by  the  public  can  be  properly  discharged,  or  if  chronic 
cases  can  properly  be  remanded  to  the  almshouse.  The 
city  or  the  county  pays  a  certain  rate  per  week  for  the  care 
of  patients  which  it  sends  to  the  various  hospitals. 

Two  general  types  of  hospital  have  been  evolved  in 
America:  the  municipal,  developed  from  the  wards  of  alms- 
houses, and  the  corporate,  governed  by  an  unsalaried  board 
of  prominent  citizens.^  The  municipal  hospital  has,  as  a 
rule,  retained  the  low  standards  set  by  its  origin  and  is 
especially  liable  to  the  evils  of  political  management,  such 
as  were  formerly  illustrated  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital,  New 
York,  Cook  County  Hospital,  Illinois,  and  very  recently  in 
the  City  and  County  Hospital  of  San  Francisco.  The 
Corporate  Hospital,  while  reaping  all  the  advantages  of 
disinterested  management  and  an  eminent  medical  staff, 
1  "  Efficient  Democracy,"  pp.  90  ff. 


THE  DESTITUTE  SICK.  307 

suffers  from  what  Mr.  William  Allen  calls  "  the  goodness 
fallacy,"  —  the  fallacy  that  estimable  gentlemen  of  wealth 
and  affairs  are  necessarily  competent  to  run  a  highly  com- 
plex and  technical  philanthropy.^  Miss  Maud  Banfield, 
in  discussing  hospital  administration,  complains  that  both 
physicians  and  trustees  think  they  know  all  about  the 
business  without  learning,  and  that  as  a  consequence, 
money  is  wasted  and  the  patients  suffer,  and,  in  short, 
that  no  large  undertaking  is  conducted  with  so  little 
inspection.^ 

The  discussion  of  this  and  other  serious  defects  of  hospital 
management  was  precipitated  in  New  York  City  by  the  in- 
creasing deficits  of  all  the  more  conspicuous  institutions. 
Mr.  Frank  Tucker,  in  a  study  of  the  city  hospitals  in  1902, 
stated  that  the  deficits  of  twenty  hospitals  aggregated 
$750,000  annually ;  that  work  was  being  curtailed,  and  the 
poor  were  suffering.  Charges  of  extravagance  followed  and 
were  not  answered  by  the  hospitals.  At  a  public  meeting 
in  1905,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the  subject 
of  hospital  needs  and  finances,  and  made  its  final  report  in 
1906.''  They  recommended  a  system  of  uniform  accounting, 
to  follow  an  intelligent  classification  of  the  various  hospitals, 
so  that  only  the  institutions  which  were  fairly  comparable 
should  be  classed  together.  Meanwhile,  four  of  the  largest 
general  hospitals  of  the  city  had  perfected  a  uniform  system 
of  accounting  which  the  Committee  recommended  should 
be  the  basis  of  a  system  for  all  hospitals  of  their  class.  The 
Committee  urged  further  that  an  annual  digest  of  all  hospital 
reports  be  published.  The  Subcommittee  on  Economics 
submitted  specific  recommendations  as  to  waste  and  means 
of  avoiding  it,  and  the  whole  report  closed  with  the  follow- 
ing statement :  — 

1  Hurd,  '•Hospitals,"  etc. ;  Charities  Bevieio,  vol.  x.,  1900,  pp.  325  S. 

2  Charities,  etc.,  1906,  vol.  xvi.,  p.  287,  pp.  351  ff. 

3  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  vol.  xx.,  1902,  pp.  328. 


308  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

"They  must  not  only  know  themselves  what  every  item  of  service 
costs ;  but  they  must  show  the  public  that  they  know,  and  they  must 
enable  the  public  also  to  know.  It  is  the  judgment  of  this  Committee 
that  the  hospitals  themselves  have  it  in  their  power,  by  moving  along 
this  line,  to  tap  sources  of  popular  support  that  will  be  adequate  to 
any  need.  The  value  of  uniform  accounting,  between  hospitals  of 
the  same  class,  for  such  a  purpose,  is,  that  it  enables  the  friends 
of  every  hospital  to  know  not  only  when  it  is  doing  poorly,  which 
ought  to  be  only  a  temporary  condition,  but  also  when  it  is  doing  well, 
which  ought  to  be  the  normal  condition  of  every  institution  that  aims 
to  serve  the  public." 

Aside  from  the  question  of  support,  the  matters  of  most 
importance  in  hospital  administration  are  the  character  of 
the  control  and  superintendence,  and  the  relation  of  the  hos- 
pitals to  the  subscribing  public.  Whether  hospitals  should 
be  governed  solely  by  trained  medical  men  or  by  laymen  of 
business  training  has  been  much  discussed;  at  the  present 
time  both  opinion  and  practice  lean  toward  lay  control.^  As 
to  the  qualifications  of  a  hospital  superintendent,  it  is  of  far 
more  importance  that  he  should  be  a  skilled  administrator, 
with  ample  training,  than  that  he  should  be  a  physician. 
Too  frequently  the  position  is  filled  by  some  one  who  "just 
happens  along  "  and  who  has  been  trained  neither  in  medi- 
cine nor  affairs.  The  general  tendency  toward  the  inspec- 
tion of  private  as  well  as  public  charities  is  plainly  growing 
in  tlie  case  of  medical  charity.  Unquestionably,  institutions 
receiving  public  subscriptions  should  be  subject  to  visitation 
and  supervision  by  State  or  municipal  authority.  Even  in 
the  case  of  private  hospitals  not  soliciting  subscriptions, 
they  should  be  either  licensed  or  supervised.  Finally,  the 
situation  evidently  demands  some  check  on  the  multiplication 
of  new  hospitals  in  lines  not  required,  and  the  diversion  of 
charitable  impulse  into  channels  where  there  is  greater  need.^ 

1  Burdett,  "Hospitals,"  etc.,  1901,  p.  69;  Phila.  Med.  Jour.,  1902, 
April  5;   Baufield,  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  vol.  xx.,  1902,  p.  33. 

2  As,  for  instance,  sanatoria  for  incipient  tuberculosis  and  for  con- 
valescents. 


THE  DESTITUTE  SICK.  309 

The  dispensary  is  the  most  efficient  engine  of  hospital 
extension;  and  therefore,  where  we  Irave  competing  institu- 
tions, it  is  a  department  that  develops  first  and  fastest.  In 
1900  Dr.  Hurd  estimated  the  number  of  independent  dis- 
pensaries at  225,  and  those  connected  with  hospitals  and 
medical  schools  at  250.^  The  Special  Census,  taken  in  1904, 
however,  gives  only  156  independent  charitable  dispensaries, 
of  which  two-thirds  were  found  in  California,  Illinois,  Mary- 
land, Massachusetts,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania.  Only 
11  were  maintained  at  public  cost,  17  by  churches,  and  the 
remainder  were  under  private  control.  In  the  123  dispen- 
saries reporting  the  number  of  patients,  1,611,651  persons 
were  treated,  —  an  average  for  the  whole  country  of  1982.3 
per  100,000  of  the  whole  population.  The  system  has  reached 
its  extreme  development  in  New  York  City,  where  the  ratio 
of  treatment  is  10,848.5  per  100,000.^ 

"Wherever  a  considerable  number  of  dispensary  cases  are 
investigated  to  ascertain  whether  or  not  the  patients  are 
destitute,  a  tolerably  high  abuse  rate  is  found.  Some  of 
these,  as  ascertained  in  England,  have  already  been  given. 
Dr.  Savage  gives  the  following  account  of  certain  investiga- 
tions in  New  York  City :  — 

"  la  the  most  attractive  dispensary  of  the  city,  possessing  an  elegant 
building,  a  complete  equipment,  and  high-grade  physicians,  the  patients 
are  largely  of  a  class  one  might  judge  able  to  compensate  a  physician. 
The  Charity  Organization  investigated  1600  cases  selected  out  of 
35,000  applicants.  The  answer  was  that  about  one-fourth  were  able 
to  pay,  another  fourth  had  given  a  wrong  address  (possibly  from  an 
aversion  to  its  being  known  that  they  had  applied  for  dispensary  aid, 
or  because  they  resided  out  of  the  city) ,  and  the  remaining  half  were 
recommended  as  worthy  of  medical  charity  by  reason  of  poverty."  ^ 

This  is  a  matter  on  which  physicians  differ  widely,  but 
charity  experts  usually  consider  that  this  free  medical  service 

1  Charities  Review,  vol.  x.,  1900,  p.  410. 

2  "  Benevolent  Institutions,"  pp.  36-39. 

8  Billings  and  Hurd,  "  Hospitals,"  etc.,  note,  p.  6'14,  1893. 


310  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

has  a  very  bad  effect  xipon  the  applicants.  The  Charity 
Organization  Society  of  London  has  waged  a  long  fight 
against  it.  The  Charity  Organization  Societies  of  the  United 
States  have  investigated  cases  whenever  referred  to  them ; 
but  many  hospitals  do  not  want  the  cases  investigated,  — 
they  are  glad  to  take  all  that  come.  Sir  Morell  Mackenzie 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  out-patient  department  of  a 
great  hospital  was  the  greatest  pauperizing  agency  existing 
in  England  ;  while  Lord  Cathcart,  who  served  on  the  Lords' 
Committee  on  Hospitals,  thought  the  effect  not  nearly  as 
bad  as  supposed,  and  that  the  matter  had  better  be  left  to 
limit  itself.  "The  out-patient  department,  however  well 
managed,"  he  said,  "is  a  social  test  in  itself,  —  the  crowds, 
long  waits,  unpleasant  neighbors,  crying  and  irritable  chil- 
dren. There  is  also  some  little  risk  of  looking  in  with  one 
complaint  and  coming  out  with  another." 

To  check  the  abuse  of  dispensary  aid,  the  New  York  Dis- 
pensary Law  was  passed  in  1898.  It  provides  that  all  dis- 
pensaries shall  be  licensed  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities, 
which  has  power  to  inspect  and  revoke  licenses;  patients 
are  obliged  to  sign  a  statement  that  they  cannot  pay,  and  a 
false  statement  is  a  misdemeanor.  The  law  appears  to  have 
had  a  wholesome  effect  in  limiting  the  number  of  dispensaries 
to  those  for  which  need  existed,  in  creating  a  system  of  uni- 
form records,  and  in  raising  the  standard  of  service ;  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  it  has  had  the  effect  of  limiting  the 
service  to  the  class  for  which  it  is  primarily  intended,  that 
is,  to  the  sick  poor.^  By  law  the  dispensaries  are  required  to 
investigate  only  those  applicants  whose  dress  or  speech  indi- 
cate that  they  could  pay. 

At  the  Massachusetts  General  Hospital  an  officer  is  charged 
with  the  duty  of  visiting  suspected  persons  at  their  homes 
to  ascertain  the  exact  need  of  the  family.  In  other  dis- 
pensaries, such  investigations  are  made  by  the  Charity 
1  Charities,  vol.  xv.,  1905,  p.  109. 


THE  DESTITUTE  SICK.  311 

Organization  Society.^  Besides  the  abuse  by  persons  able 
to  pay,  there  is  often  careless  treatment  on  the  part  of 
young  and  incompetent  physicians  in  the  crowded  dispen- 
saries, as  well  as  a  loss  of  practice  to  regular  practi- 
tioners. 

A  majority  of  dispensaries  now  charge  a  small  fee  for 
medicines  and  for  surgical  dressings  to  those  who  are  able 
to  pay  it ;  and  it  is  believed  the  patients  value  what  they 
receive  and  are  therefore  more  likely  to  benefit  from  it,  than 
when  it  is  wholly  gratuitous.  There  is  much  to  be  said  in 
favor  of  confining  free  medical  aid  to  teaching  institutions 
where  the  patient  gives  as  well  as  receives  something ;  and 
the  tendency  appears  to  be  to  put  medical  relief  on  the  same 
basis  as  other  material  aid.  But  the  cure  of  these  abuses 
can  only  be  carried  out  with  the  cooperation  of  the  attending 
physicians  themselves. 

In  England,  provident  dispensaries  have  been  organized 
to  a  considerable  extent,  at  which,  in  consideration  of  the 
deposit  of  a  weekly  or  monthly  sum,  medical  attendance  and 
medicine  are  provided.  There  has  not  been  very  much  done 
in  the  line  of  provident  dispensaries  in  this  country ;  but 
the  various  mutual  benevolent  orders,  and  the  relief  asso- 
ciations of  the  railroads  and  some  other  corporations,  pro- 
vide medical  attendance  upon  the  payment  of  stated 
contributions  per  month.  There  is  a  considerable  class 
of  those  who  are  poor  but  not  pauper,  patients  who  can- 
not afford  either  the  expense  or  the  time  to  go  to  a  hos- 
pital, and  often  do  not  need  to  do  so,  and  who  are  not 
able  to  pay  a  fairly  good  physician.  Young  physicians 
cannot  afford,  on  the  other  hand,  to  give  the  necessary 
medicines,  bandages,  etc.  For  this  most  important  class 
dispensaries  and  home  nursing  afford  practicable  relief. 

American  municipalities  vary  widely  in  the  public  pro- 
vision which  they  make  for  sending  medical  relief  to  the 
1  Hurd,  "  Dispensaries,"  Charities  Review,  vol.  x.,  1900,  p.  410. 


312  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

destitute  sick  in  their  own  homes.  In  some  cities  there  are 
ward  physicians,  or  district  physicians,  or,  as  they  are  usually 
called  by  the  beneficiaries,  "poor-doctors,"  who  are  paid  from 
$10  to  $50  per  month  to  respond  to  all  calls  for  gratuitous 
treatment.  These  positions  are  eagerly  sought  after  by  certain 
junior  members  of  the  medical  profession,  and  apparently 
would  be  if  no  salary  were  paid  at  all.  In  cities  like  New 
York,  where  there  are  no  public  phj'sicians  to  the  poor,  the 
gap  is  filled  by  private  benevolence,  the  large  dispensaries, 
and  the  gratuitous  services  of  the  medical  profession. 

Nursing  as  a  form  of  medical  and  charitable  service  existed 
before  many  of  the  other  branches  of  these  arts.  Within 
the  last  two  or  three  decades  it  has  had  a  new  access  of 
usefulness  through  the  advances  in  medicine  and  surgery, 
and  from  the  knowledge  that  has  been  obtained  of  the 
sources  of  disease  and  the  methods  of  antiseptic  and  aseptic 
treatment,  as  well  as  in  consequence  of  the  cultivation  of 
nursing  as  a  specialty.  More  than  one-half  of  the  hospitals 
reporting  in  the  Federal  Census  of  1904  conduct  training 
schools  for  nurses,  and  employ  a  total  of  21,844  nurses  in 
the  care  of  patients. 

There  are  substantially  three  types  of  hospitals  as  far  as 
regards  nursing :  first,  those  with  paid  or  "  professional " 
nurses ;  second,  those  where  the  nursing  is  done  by  pupils 
under  trained  supervision ;  and  third,  those  where  the 
nursing  is  done  by  members  of  the  religious  orders.  In 
certain  hospitals,  usually  those  under  public  management, 
the  nursing  is  done  by  persons  who  are  paid  a  small 
amount  and  keep  their  positions  from  year  to  year,  or  as 
long  as  politics  allow.  This,  on  the  whole,  is  a  cheap 
form  of  getting  the  service ;  but  the  class  of  persons  that 
will  work  at  this  occupation  continuously  for  a  small  salary 
is  distinctly  poor ;  and  a  hospital  relying  upon  this  system 
drifts  into  the  policy  of  employing  inmates  to  do  the  nursing. 
The  nursing  in  an  almshouse  hospital  is  usually  of  this 


THE  DESTITUTE  SICK.  313 

kind,  more  or  less  capable  inmates  being  paid  small  amounts 
to  assume  the  responsibility  and  work  of  nurses. 

The  second  method  of  securing  the  necessar}^  service  is 
by  pupil  nurses,  serving  a  novitiate  of  two  or  three  years, 
and  receiving  only  enough  to  support  them.  The  nurses 
may  come  in  from  an  outside  training  school,  or  the  train- 
ing school  may  be  a  branch  of  the  hospital  administration. 
In  either  case,  the  special  work  of  nursing  must  be  under 
one  experienced  person,  who  has  full  control  of  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  nursing  force,  and  is  distinctly  responsible 
for  this  branch  of  the  work.  The  system  of  pupil  nursing 
secures  a  much  higher  grade  of  applicants  for  positions ; 
and  while  the  necessity  of  continual!}^  dealing  with  new 
nurses  causes  the  medical  officials  to  grumble  from  time 
to  time,  yet  most  efficient  service  can  be  got  by  this 
method  if  there  is  a  sufficient  force  of  trained  head  nurses. 

So  far  as  some  of  our  large  public  hospitals  are  concerned, 
the  greatest  blessing  that  has  come  from  the  introduction  of 
training-school  nurses  has  been  in  the  reaction  upon  the 
general  administration  of  the  institutions,  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital in  New  York  City  is  the  most  conspicuous  example  of 
such  a  reaction.  During  the  year  1870  there  were  in  the 
hospital  1071  deaths,  or  12.2  per  cent  of  all  patients  treated. 
In  this  1071  deaths,  there  were  69  cases  of  hospital  poisons, 
or  6.44  per  cent.  In  1871,  out  of  376  confinements,  there 
were  33  deaths  from  puerperal  fever,  or  8.7  per  cent  of  all 
women  confined.  During  the  spring  of  1874,  puerperal  fever 
at  Bellevue  Hospital  became  epidemic,  and  reached  the 
height  of  nearly  two  deaths  out  of  every  five  women  de- 
livered.^ In  addition  to  the  number  of  patients  dying  from 
hospital  poisons,  there  was  also  a  large  number  of  cases  of 
gangrene,  erysipelas,  exhaustion,  etc.,  to  which  hospital 
poisons  may  have  been  tributary.     The  nursing  was  done 

1  Third  Annual  Report  of  New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association, 
p.  23. 


314  AMERICAN  CHABITIES. 

largely  by  persons  sent  from  the  poorhouse  or  the  house  of 
correction.  The  establishment  of  a  training  school  in  1873 
and  the  introduction  of  trained  and  pupil  nurses,  although 
not  the  only  force  operating  for  reform,  was  a  powerful  one. 
From  the  reformed  institution  have  gone  out,  and  go  out 
annually,  women  trained  to  the  work  of  nursing,  many  of 
whom  are  called  to  be  head  nurses  and  superintendents  in 
other  institutions. 

In  the  third  class  of  hospitals  the  nursing  is  done  by 
members  of  the  religious  orders.  Such  institutions  are  usu- 
ally owned  by  the  orders  themselves,  and  the  Sister  Superior 
is  at  the  head  of  the  administration.  They  are  frequently 
subsidized  by  the  municipalities  ;  but  it  is  rare  with  us, 
though  common  in  Europe,  for  a  religious  order  to  be  given 
charge  of  the  nursing  in  a  public  institution. 

Physicians  and  surgeons,  according  to  individual  expe- 
rience, vary  in  their  estimates  of  the  relative  efficiency  of 
Sisters  or  other  women  as  nurses.  Some  of  the  orders  take 
great  pains  in  the  training  of  their  novices.  It  will  be  in- 
teresting to  see,  as  time  goes  on,  whether  persons  of  sufficient 
intelligence  and  education  to  make  the  best  modern  nurses 
will  continue  to  enter  the  religious  orders ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  whether  "  cash  payment  "  and  simple  devotion  to  duty 
will  give  the  entire  reliability  which  is  needed  in  the  nurse 
at  all  times  and  places.-^ 

Standing  between  the  religious  orders  of  the  Catholic 
Church  and  the  paid  nurses  of  the  training  school  are  the 
orders  of  deaconesses  of  the  Protestant  denominations. 
Their  work  is  particularly  for  the  poor.  In  this  country 
these  orders  have  not  as  yet  taken  up  hospital  work  to  any 
notable  extent.  They  differ  from  the  Catholic  orders  in 
that  the  vows  are  taken  for  only  a  limited  period  of  years, 

1  For  an  account  of  the  training  of  male  and  female  nurses  in  the 
Catholic  orders,  see  Billings,  "  Hospitals,"  pp.  473-477.  Dr.  KoUen  thinks 
the  religious  orders  make  unrivalled  nurses. 


THE  DESTITUTE  SICK.  315 

and  they  may  retain  the  title  to  private  property,  and  do  not 
cut  themselves  off  from  their  relatives. 

The  latest  development  in  nursing  work  for  the  poor  is 
"  district  nursing,"  which  is  simply  the  gratuitous  nursing 
of  the  sick  poor  in  their  homes.     Such  care  of  the  poor  has 
long  been  given  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity  and  the  Soeurs  de       ? 
Bon  Secours  of  the  Catholic  Church,  who  have  attended  to  it     3 
with  devotion  and  unparalleled  personal  sympathy.     In  the    -.^ 
United  States,  salaried  trained  nurses  to  the  poor  were  first   _.^ 
employed  by  the  Woman's  Branch  of  the  New  York  City  '^ 
Mission  and  Tract   Society  in   1877.      The   district   nurse   "^ 
ordinarily  receives  a  monthly  salary.     She  passes  from  home  ^ 
to  home,  doing  what  is  necessary  for  the  sick ;  and  the  in-  :^ 
fluence  of  her  example  of  cleanliness,  order,  and  wise  doing  ^5 
is  frequently  contagious.  *^ 

The  following  summary   shows   the  growth   of  visiting '■«( 
nursing  work  from  1877  to  1906  :  —  '^ 


Associations  in  the  United  States 220 

Localities  having  nursing  associations 143 

Total  number  of  nurses 637 

District  nursing  is  constantly  finding  new  differentiations. 
There  are  nurses'  settlements,  such  as  the  Henry  Street 
Settlement  in  New  York,  from  which  48,235  visits  were 
made  in  1905;  a  staff  of  50  nurses  in  1905  examined  1,351,083 
school  children,  visited  40,070  tenements,  and  25,943  schools 
in  New  York.  The  first  municipal  nurse  was  employed  in 
Los  Angeles,  California,  in  1898,  to  visit  among  the  sick 
poor.  The  New  York  Health  Department  in  its  campaign 
against  tuberculosis,  was  employing  in  1906  nineteen  nurses 
to  visit  consumptives.  In  Baltimore,  the  Johns  Hopkins 
Nurses  Alumnae  Association  furnishes  hourly  nursing  at  a 
reasonable  price;  the  Crerar  fund,  in  the  hands  of  the  Illi- 
nois Training  School  for  Nurses,  affords  nursing  in  fami- 
lies able  to  pay  a  part  but  not  all  the  charges  of  a  nurse. 


0 


316  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Recently  several  large  industrial  establishments  and  many 
department  stores  have  employed  one  or  more  nurses  to 
look  after  their  employees  at  work  and  in  their  homes. 
One  of  the  most  recent  and  useful  developments  of  this 
kind  of  work  is  rural  nursing,  such  as  that  afforded  by  the 
Country  Settlement  near  Concord,  ISTew  Hampshire.-^ 

This  latest  phase  of  medical  charity  illustrates  the  sacrifice 
of  the  capable  to  the  incapable,  not  merely  for  the  care  of 
the  sick  and  needy,  but  for  the  purpose  of  educating  the 
ignorant  in  hygiene  and  sanitation.  The  preventive  and  ed- 
ucational aspects  of  visiting  nursing  are  so  important  that 
these  highly  trained  women  should  not  be  permitted  to  make 
too  great  a  personal  sacrifice.  Nurses,  especially  pupil  and 
paid  nurses,  are  frequently  overworked,  and  the  members 
of  religious  orders  also  break  down  at  an  early  age.  The 
death-rate  among  all  classes  of  nurses  is  very  high.  It  should 
be  seen  to  by  those  in  authority  that  strong,  capable  women 
are  not  killed  off  gratuitously  by  overwork  which  could  be 
avoided.  The  conditions  of  their  lives  must  be  as  health- 
giving  and  as  health-preserving  as  possible;  and  whether 
they  are  members  of  a  religious  order  or  the  salaried  servants 
of  a  society,  they  must  have  opportunities  of  recruiting  their 
strength,  and  so  of  preserving  their  usefulness.  Aside  from 
the  development  of  certain  lines  of  technical  medical  care 
required  for  special  classes  of  the  destitute  sick,  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  field  of  visiting  nursing  is  unquestionably  the 
most  promising  aspect  of  medical  charities,  combining  as 
it  does  a  highly  necessary  form  of  relief  with  rare  oppor- 
tunities for  social  alleviation  and  uplifting. 

1  For  various  recent  aspects  of  district  nursing,  see  special  number  of 
Chanties,  etc.,  vol.  xvi.,  1906,  No.  1. 


CHAPTER   XI. 
THE   INSANE. 

The  amount  of  pauperism  apparent  in  a  community  bears 
a  direct  relation  to  the  poor  laws  and  their  administration ; 
but  insanity,  because  it  requires  immediate  attention  and 
institutional  restraint,  is  not  greatly  affected  in  amount  by 
the  absence  or  provision  of  proper  care.  In  the  United 
States  there  were,  in  1903,  150,151  insane  persons  in  public 
and  private  asylums,  11,807  in  almshouses,  and  an  unknown 
number  in  private  families.  In  1880  there  were  enumerated 
51,017  outside  of  hospitals  as  compared  with  40,942  in 
them ;  and  in  1890  only  32,457  outside,  as  compared  with 
94,028  in  theui.^  In  the  census  of  1903-1904  no  attempt  was 
made  to  enumerate  those  outside  of  institutions,  but  it  is 
believed  to  be  not  less  than  in  1890.  The  number  of  hospi- 
tals increased  from  162  in  1890  (of  which  119  were  public 
and  43  private)  to  328  in  1900  (of  which  226  were  public 
and  102  private).  This  increase  may  signify  an  increasing 
ratio  of  insane  in  the  population  or  merely  an  enlightened 
public  demand  for  proper  hospital  care  of  the  mentally 
sick. 

Table  LXIV.  (pp.  318-319)  shows  the  number  and  ratio 
of  insane  in  hospitals  in  1880,  1890,  and  1903  for  each  of 
the  United  States. 

Of  the  49  States  and  Territories,  only  8  show  decreased 
ratios  in  1903  as  compared  with  1890  ;  and  if  the  number 
outside  of  hospitals  had  been  enumerated  in  1903,  there 
would  probably  have  been  increased  ratios  for  every  State. 

1  The  enumeration  in  1890  is  known  to  have  been  less  complete  than  in 
1880. 

317 


318 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


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320  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

Mr.  John  Koren,  the  special  expert  agent  of  the  census,  con- 
cludes that  making  every  allowance  for  other  considerations, 
the  census  returns  permit  but  one  conclusion,  namely,  that 
the  rate  of  increase  is  greater  for  the  insane  in  the  United 
States  than  it  is  for  the  general  population.^  Whether  the 
increase  is  due  to  an  actual  increase  in  insanity,  or  to  a 
greater  accuracy  in  the  enumeration,  or  to  improved  institu- 
tional facilities  which  tend  to  increased  use,  it  coincides  with 
the  experience  of  foreign  countries,  and  the  best  authorities 
agree  that  there  is  an  actual  increase  of  insanity. 

As  between  different  States,  the  variation  in  ratios  indi- 
cates not  so  much  the  difference  in  the  relative  number  of 
the  insane  as  the  extent  to  which  they  have  been  segregated 
from  the  rest  o^  the  population.  New  York,  for  instance, 
has  166.4  more  insane  persons  per  100,000  of  population 
than  Pennsylvania.  It  may  be  that  New  York  actually  has 
more  insane,  but  this  figure  probably  means  that  New  York 
provides  for  them  much  more  fully  than  Pennsylvania. 
This  conclusion  is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  in  1904  there 
were  1888  insane  persons  in  almshouses  in  Pennsylvania 
and  only  304  in  New  York.^ 

Granting  an  increase,  which  experts  seem  to  agree  has 
actually  taken  place,  not  only  in  the  number  of  persons 
classed  as  insane,  but  in  the  number  actually  suffering  from 
a  diseased  mental  condition  of  given  severity,  the  explana- 
tions that  are  offered  for  this  increase  are  many. 

Mr.  Koren  says  :  — 

"  As  the  management  of  the  public  hospitals  and  the  care  afforded 
patients  have  reached  a  higher  standard,  popular  prejudice  against 
these  institutions  has  diminished.  Yet  until  comparatively  recent 
times  the  deep-rooted  and  often  too  well  founded  aversion  to  hospitals 
for  the  insane  was  a  sufficient  factor  to  keep  out  of  them  all  patients 
who  could  be  cared  for  in  some  other  manner.  The  popular  conception 
of  a  hospital  for  the  insane  as  a  place  of  confinement  for  the  abnormal 

1  Special  Report,  "  Insane,"  etc.,  1904,  p.  10.  2  JUJ^^  p.  n. 


THE  INSANE.  321 

is  rapidly  giving  way  to  the  modern  idea  of  a  curative  establishment 
for  the  sick.  Wise  legislation  has  accelerated  the  influx  to  hospitals  in 
many  places  by  segregating  the  criminal,  incurable,  and  epileptic  in- 
sane and  the  feeble-minded  from  the  others,  by  providing  better  safe- 
guards in  the  matter  of  commitments,  and  in  a  few  instances  by  pro- 
hibiting the  admission  of  insane  persons  to  almshouses." 

The  humane  treatment  of  the  insane  has  tended  to  lessen 
the  death-rate  among  them.  Gathered  together  into  institu- 
tions where  the  sanitation  is  good,  as  a  rule,  the  food  nour- 
ishing, and  the  care  watchful  and  kindly,  there  is  a  larger 
quantity  of  life  falling  to  the  lot  of  the  insane  population 
than  would  formerly  have  come  to  them.  Their  numbers 
increase  because  each  remains  longer  upon  the  scene. 

Medical  skill  is  learning  to  control  many  of  the  contagious 
diseases  and  acute  fevers.  The  consequent  prolongation  of 
life,  in  the  population  as  a  whole,  has  tended  to  allow 
larger  numbers  of  comparatively  weak  constitutions  to  come 
to  the  period  of  life  Vt^hen  degeneration  of  the  nervous  or 
vascular  system  takes  place.  This  is  held  to  account  in 
part,  not  only  for  the  increase  in  the  number  of  the  insane, 
but  also  for  the  increased  number  of  persons  who  die  from 
cancer  and  from  diseases  of  degeneration. 

The  climatic  influence  of  the  country,  wath  sharp  extremes 
of  heat  and  cold,  and  the  dry  atmosphere  permitting  rapid 
evaporation  from  the  body,  is  held  by  many  physicians  to 
tend  to  the  unbalancing  of  the  nervous  system.  Dr.  Pliny 
Earle  maintains  that  as  civilization  has  advanced,  and  the 
habits  of  the  race  have  been  consequently  modified,  disease 
has  left  its  strongholds  iu  the  fleshy  and  muscular  tissues 
and  at  length  seated  itself  in  the  nervous  system. 

The  over-tension  of  modern  life,  which  is  spoken  of  by 
some  as  if  it  were  wholly  responsible  for  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  the  insane,  has  undoubtedly  had  much  to  do  with 
the  increase  in  insanity.  Especially  among  the  more  highly 
organized  individuals  the  burden  which  modern  life  puts 


322  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

upon  the  reasoning  powers  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  that 
which  was  placed  upon  them  a  few  decades  ago.  We  chal- 
lenge custom,  we  question  our  instincts,  we  are  sceptical 
where  we  used  to  have  faith.  In  matters,  for  instance,  such 
as  the  relation  of  man  to  the  church,  and  of  the  sexes  to 
each  other,  we  now  believe  that  reason  should  be  constantly 
compelled  to  act.  We  have  put  upon  the  minds  of  the  pres- 
ent generation  great  burdens,  which  those  minds  are  not 
sufficiently  well  developed  and  well  organized  to  bear. 

Another  explanation  that  is  frequently  given  is  the  great 
amount  of  foreign  immigration,  and  the  character  of  the  immi- 
grants. A  certain,  or  rather  an  uncertain,  number  of  pau- 
pers, lunatics,  and  imbeciles  have  undoubtedly  been  foisted 
upon  us  by  Europe.  Besides  this,  the  complete  change  of  con- 
ditions, climate,  and  associations  might  be  expected  to  un- 
settle the  minds  of  foreigners  coming  to  this  country.  But 
the  comparisons  ordinarily  made  between  native-born  and 
foreign-born  insane,  without  reference  to  sex  or  age  distri- 
bution in  the  population,  are  entirely  misleading. 

Much  lurid  poetry  and  fiction  have  been  produced,  having 
for  their  basis  the  unjust  commitment  of  sane  persons  as 
insane ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  many  papers  have  been 
written  by  physicians  and  others  showing  the  danger  of 
allowing  insane  persons  to  be  too  long  without  asylum  re- 
straint, and  of  the  injustice  that  comes  from  making  it  too 
difficult  to  secure  judgment  of  insanity  and  subsequent 
commitment  and  detention.  Undoubtedly  the  danger  of 
the  commitment  of  sane  persons  has  been  greatly  overesti- 
mated. The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  who  was  chairman  of  the 
English  Commission  in  Lunacy  for  fifty  years,  stated  that 
though  the  number  of  certificates  that  had  passed  through 
their  office  was  more  than  185,000,  there  was  not  one  person 
who  was  not  shown  by  good  prima  facie  evidence  to  be  in 
need  of  care  and  treatment.  Drs.  Ordroneaux  and  Smith, 
who  were  State  commissioners  in  New  York  from  1873  to 


THE  INSANE.  323 

1888,  stated  that,  during  the  fifteen  years  of  their  term 
of  service,  no  case  of  illegal  detention  had  occurred  in  the 
State ;  and  the  inspector  of  Massachusetts  hospitals  made 
a  similar  statement  in  1893. 

In  most  instances  there  are  two  things  to  be  decided : 
first,  whether  a  person  is  legally  insane  and  in  need  of 
asylum  treatment  or  the  control  of  a  guardian,  and  second, 
whether  or  not  he  or  his  relatives  should  be  compelled  to 
support  him. 

In  the  United  States  there  are  four  methods  of  commit- 
ment :  by  arraignment  and  trial  without  medical  authority ; 
by  trial  with  medical  examination ;  by  physicians'  declara- 
tion, the  court  merely  registering  the  findings ;  by  a  regular 
commission.  The  decision  as  to  sanity  is  primarily  a  med- 
ical question ;  the  old  method  was  to  treat  it  as  a  legal  one. 
The  person  "  charged  "  with  insanity  was  brought  personally 
into  court  and  tried  before  a  jury.  In  a  few  States  jury 
trial  is  still  obligatory  in  all  cases,  and  the  presence  of  the 
patient  at  the  trial  is  demanded.  Although  this  system 
may  be  properly  characterized  as  barbarous,  there  is  at  the 
same  time  a  judicial  element  in  the  matter  which  requires 
that  the  cases  should  be  passed  upon  by  a  court.  The  more 
progressive  States  provide  that  all  commitments  shall  be 
recorded  in  the  Court  of  Records,  but  that  the  testimony 
upon  which  the  action  is  based  shall  for  the  most  part  be 
that  of  medical  experts.  It  is  necessary  that  adequate  pub- 
licity should  be  provided  for,  that  an  adequate  amount  of 
expert  testimony  should  determine  the  question  of  sanity, 
and  that  a  court  should  protect  the  rights  of  the  patient. 

If  the  law  were  based  on  the  modern  conception  of  insan- 
ity as  a  disease,  and  not  a  crime,  the  procedure  for  commit- 
ment would  take  quite  another  aspect.  As  suggested  by 
Professor  Henderson,  the  Board  of  Inquiry  composed  of 
physicians  would  hold  an  inquest ;  the  patient  could  not  be 
detained  in  a  jail,  and  the  local  authorities  would  be  com- 


324  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

pelled  to  provide  a  proper  place  of  detention.  The  method 
prevalent  in  most  States  of  keeping  the  insane  during  the 
inquiry  in  the  same  place  with  criminals  is  not  only  out- 
rageous but  injurious.'' 

The  detention  of  the  insane  is  another  matter  when  it  is 
necessary  to  protect  the  interests  at  once  of  the  community 
and  of  the  inmates.  It  is  a  matter  on  which  the  inmates 
will  usually  differ  in  opinion  from  the  superintendent  of 
the  institution,  and  it  has  not  been  found  easy  to  work  out 
rules  that  guarantee  against  all  abuses.  In  the  main,  the 
right  of  correspondence  should  remain  with  the  patients, 
the  letters  that  they  write  being  read  by  the  superintendent 
or  his  representative,  and  any  which  are  not  forwarded 
being  filed  for  the  inspection  of  directors  or  other  super- 
visors of  the  institution.^ 

Where  the  insane  who  are  committed  and  detained  are 
classified  according  as  they  or  their  relatives  can  or  cannot 
pay  for  their  support,  the  adjudication  of  this  matter  must 
usually  rest  with  the  overseers  of  the  poor.  There  is  likely 
to  be  a  good  deal  of  care  exercised  where  the  expense  of 
maintenance  is  left  to  the  towns  and  counties.  Where  the 
State  maintains  both  the  acute  and  the  chronic  insane,  the 
drift  is  in  the  direction  of  giving  free  support  to  all  insane 
persons,  whether  of  the  well-to-do  classes  or  not. 

Under  the  head  of  commitment  and  detention  must  be 
mentioned  the  matter  of  proper  escort  of  the  insane  from 
the  place  of  family  residence  to  the  hospital  or  asylum  to 
which  they  are  committed.  In  most  States  this  matter  is 
left  to  the  sheriff,  a  relic  of  the  time  when  only  the  legal 
aspects  of  the  matter  were  considered  by  the  courts.  In 
other  States  the  asylums  are  expected  to  send  proper  at- 
tendants to  take  the  inmates  to  the  institution,  and  a  few 
provide  that  the  county  shall  send  a  female  attendant  with 

1  Henderson,  "  Dependents,"  etc.,  pp.  187  ff. ;  Richardson,  N.  C.  C,  1901, 
pp.  165  ff,  2  Burr,  N.  C.  C,  1902,  p.  180, 


THE  INSANE.  325 

every  female  patient,  unless  accompanied  by  h.er  husband, 
father,  brother,  or  son.  The  State  Care  Act  of  New  York 
provides  for  female  escort  for  females,  and  attaches  a  pen- 
alty for  its  non-observance. 

The  history  of  the  treatment  of  the  insane  may  be  divided 
into  four  periods :  the  first,  that  of  neglect,  when  the  insane 
were  only  dealt  with  in  case  they  were  dangerous,  and  when 
they  were  treated  as  witches  or  wild  animals ;  the  second, 
the  era  of  detention,  when  they  were  treated  under  such 
laws  as  the  English  Vagrancy  Act;  the  third,  the  period 
of  humanitarian  and  empirical  treatment ;  and  fourth,  the 
period  of  scientific  study,  rational  treatment,  and  preventive 
medicine,  when  insanity  is  recognized  as  "  a  disease  and  not 
a  doom."  ^  In  this  country,  during  the  early  part  of  the 
present  century,  the  English  precedents  were  followed,  and 
the  precedents  rather  of  the  earlier  than  of  the  passing 
period.  In  New  York,  the  law  provided  for  the  detention 
of  the  insane  by  chains  if  necessary.  Dorothea  Lynde  Dix, 
who,  in  the  middle  of  this  century,  visited  a  large  number 
of  places  for  the  care  of  the  insane,  was  compelled  to  tell  a 
most  grievous  tale  of  abuse  and  barbarity.  Even  with  the 
establishment  of  the  State  Boards  of  Charity  in  the  more  pro- 
gressive States  in  the  middle  of  the  sixties  and  early  seven- 
ties, the  condition  of  things  was  hardly  better.  The  reports 
of  the  early  seventies,  describing  the  condition  of  the  insane 
in  the  town  and  county  almshouses,  give  accounts  of  bar- 
barities as  hideous  as  any  unearthed  fifty  years  earlier  in 

1  Very  different  thoughts  are  brought  to  our  miads  by  the  two  woi'ds 
"  Bethlehem  "  and  "  Bedlam."  Yet  the  second  is  only  a  corruption  of  the 
first;  and  the  miserable  associations  that  it  recalls  are  connected  with 
it  because  in  a  "  hospital "  founded  in  1247,  by  the  order  of  "  St.  Mary  of 
Bethlem  "  (or  Bethlehem),  the  insane  were  treated  or  mistreated  during 
three  centuries.  Hodder's  "  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,"  vol.  i., 
pp.  90  ff.,  gives  a  good  summary  of  the  history  of  the  treatment  of  the 
insane.  For  the  influence  of  the  church  upon  the  treatment  of  insanity, 
see  Andrew  D.  White,  "Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,"  vol.  ii., 
Chaps.  XV.,  XVI. 


326  AMERICAN   CHARITIES 

England,  or  described  by  Miss  Dix  in  this  country.  Even 
as  late  as  1907  the  State  Board  of  Charities  of  Illinois,  in 
making  an  inspection  of  the  county  almshouses  of  that 
State,  found  similar  conditions  and  repeated  the  essential 
recommendations  made  by  Miss  Dix  sixty  years  before.^ 

The  history  of  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the 
insane  is  marked  chiefly  by  the  decline  of  mechanical  and 
medicinal  restraint.  Just  after  the  Erench  Revolution, 
Pinel  inaugurated  the  movement  in  the  great  French 
hospitals  for  the  insane  and  by  1837  mechanical  restraint 
had  been  nominally  abolished  in  England.  English  critics 
of  American  institutions  claimed  that  our  superintendents 
of  institutions  for  the  insane  were  far  behind  the  times, 
because  they  would  not  commit  themselves  to  the  dogma  of 
entire  non-restraint ;  but  careful  foreign  investigators  who 
visited  this  country  found  that  in  the  larger  asylums  there 
was  as  little  restraint  as  obtained  at  the  same  time  in  Eng- 
land. Although  the  leading  American  alienists  are  agreed 
that  restraint  is  useless  as  a  curative  measure,  this,  like 
other  asylum  abuses,  was  perpetuated  in  many  asylums  for 
the  convenience  of  attendants,  and  encouraged  by  the  man- 
ufacturer of  "  humane  restraint  apparatus."  Except  in  the 
case  of  insane  still  remaining  in  almshouses,  the  grosser 
forms  of  restraint  have  disappeared ;  but  "  seclusion,"  that 
is,  locking  the  insane  person  in  a  room  by  himself  when  he 
is  troublesome  and  noisy,  is  still  a  very  common  practice. 
Dr.  George  A.  Zeller,  superintendent  of  the  Illinois  Asylum 
for  Incurable  Insane,  declares  that  mechanical  restraint 
will  infuriate  and  finally  kill  an  insane  patient  by  the 
interference  with  the  normal  functions  of  the  body ;  but 
that  seclusion  brings  on  a  condition  of  mind  from  which 
death  is  a  welcome  relief.  Seclusion  is  even  less  justifiable 
than   mechanical  restraint,  since  it  is  done  to  relieve  the 

1  Special  Bulletin,  April,  1907;  see  also  Ellwood's  Bulletin  on  Missouri 
Almshouses  and  discussion  on  pp.  197  ff.,  ante. 


THE  INSANE.  327 

attendants  of  trouble  and  responsibility.  Medicinal  re- 
straint by  narcotics  is  also  fast  disappearing  from  modern 
asylum  practice,  to  be  replaced  by  hydrotherapy,  massage, 
and  other  non-medical  agents.^ 

The  first  State  asylums  in  this  country  were  comparatively 
small,  designed  for  not  more  than  300  persons.  In  the 
third  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  agitation  for 
the  removal  of  the  insane  from  county  to  State  care 
resulted  in  the  building  of  mammoth  institutions,  capa- 
ble of  accommodating  as  many  as  2000  patients.  In 
some  cases  the  expenditure  for  buildings  and  plant  amounted 
to  $1000  to  $3000  per  capita,  a  cost  exceeding  that  of  the 
most  expensive  hotels. 

These  great  caravansaries  filled  up,  and  still  the  counties 
had  a  large  number  of  the  insane.  At  the  opening  of 
Willard  Asylum,  in  1869,  there  were  1500  insane  persons 
in  New  York  State  in  county  care.  Six  years  later  it 
was  reported  by  the  State  Board  that  Willard  Asylum 
was  full,  and  that  there  were  still  1300  remaining  in 
county  institutions.  Mr.  F.  B.  Sanborn  points  out  that  in 
most  States  which  are  attempting  to  provide  for  all  the 
insane,  the  large  central  hospitals  continue  to  be  full  to 
overflowing,  and  concludes  :  — 

"The  effort  to  provide  for  all  the  insane  (of  any  but  very  small 
States)  in  large  asylums  seems  to  me  as  futile  as  the  schoolboy's  hope 
to  make  the  hind  wheels  of  his  wagon  overtake  the  front  wheels. 
Local  asylums,  good  or  bad,  —  too  often  bad,  —  always  have  existed 
and  always  will,  if  we  speak  of  the  United  States  as  a  whole."  2 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  very  large  institutions  were 
not  answering  their  purposes,  because  their  size  made  the 
individualization  of  cases  difficult  or  impossible,  and  there 
was   a   sort   of    contagion    of    insanity  resulting  from  the 

1  Zeller,  "  Mechanical  and  Medicinal  Restraint,"  Bulletin  Illinois  Board 
of  Charities,  October,  1906.  2  n.  C.  C,  1900,  pp.  98-99. 


328  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

presence  of  such  large  numbers  of  lunatics  on  a  small  area. 
Later  there  came  a  tendency  to  build  cottages  grouped 
about  a  central  administrative  and  hospital  building,  where 
families  of  the  insane  in  the  care  of  proper  housekeepers 
and  attendants  can  live  in  relative  seclusion.  Kankakee, 
Illinois,  was  an  early  illustration  of  this  system  of  con- 
struction. To  save  expense,  however,  the  legislature  in- 
sisted on  making  the  "  cottages "  much  larger  than  was 
desired  by  those  having  an  interest  in  this  new  develop- 
ment. 

The  tendency  at  the  present  time  is  to  transform  the 
large  institutions  as  they  grow  into  something  approaching 
the  colony  by  placing  detached  small  buildings  for  special 
classes  upon  the  estate ;  and  some  of  the  best  new  insti- 
tutions are  built  wholly  upon  the  colony  plan.  With  this 
modification  in  the  methods  of  building,  the  tendency 
toward  State  care  has  been  greatly  strengthened.  'New 
York  has  finally  transferred  all  the  insane  from  county 
to  State  care,  and  the  same  system  has  been  adopted  by 
most  of  the  Western  States. 

Wisconsin  has  had  the  distinction  for  many  years  of 
being  able  to  provide  for  all  her  insane  either  in  State  or 
county  institutions.  Whenever  cure  or  improvement  is 
considered  possible,  the  patients  are  sent  to  a  State  hospital 
under  the  charge  of  specialists.  Chronic  cases  not  needing 
special  restraint  or  care  are  sent  back  to  the  county  after 
hospital  treatment  can  benefit  them  no  further;  but  no 
county  is  allowed  to  care  for  its  own  insane  unless  the 
plans  of  its  almshouse  buildings  and  the  management  of 
that  institution  are  approved  by  the  State  Board  of  Control. 
If  so  approved,  there  is  a  small  weekly  per  capita  allowance 
from  the  State  treasury  to  the  county  that  cares  for  its  own 
insane.  If  not  approved,  at  any  time  the  State  Board  has 
the  power  to  transfer  all  the  insane  belonging  to  the  county 
to  State  institutions   or  the   almshouse  asylums  of  pther 


THE  INSANE.  329 

counties,  and  collect  the  bill  for  their  maintenance  from 
the  county  to  which  they  belong.  Thus  it  is  to  the  interest 
of  the  county  to  care  for  its  own  insane  and  to  care  for 
them  properly.^ 

About  70  per  cent  of  the  total  insane  are  cared  for  in 
county  asylums  for  chronic  patients,  and  the  remaining 
30  per  cent  in  large  State  hospitals  for  acute  cases.  It  is 
claimed  for  the  system  that  it  is  both  economical  and  hu- 
mane and  that  it  makes  it  possible  for  the  State  to  keep  up 
with  the  increasing  number  of  the  insane.  Although  highly 
praised  by  some  experts,  it  has  been  criticised  for  certain 
practical  defects.  Dr.  C.  B.  Burr  summed  up  the  objections 
to  the  county  asylum  system  as  follows  :  absence  of  the 
hospital  idea,  lack  of  medical  oversight,  lack  of  sufficient 
attendants,  lack  of  standards  of  care  prescribed  and  en- 
forced by  central  authority,  and  lack  of  both  State  and  local 
supervision.^ 

The  idea  of  segregation  and  of  special  provision  for  the 
harmless  chronic  insane  has  been  carried  in  Massachusetts 
to  the  point  of  boarding  selected  cases  of  the  insane  in  fami- 
lies. The  amount  paid  for  the  board,  together  with  the  cost 
of  the  necessary  visiting,  makes  it  not  much  more  economical 
than  asylum  care,  although  it  is  much  more  satisfactory  for 
selected  cases.  There  are  those  who  hope  that,  as  with  chil- 
dren, the  placing-out  system  is  supplanting  the  institution 
system,  so  with  the  insane  it  may  be  possible  to  board  larger 
numbers  of  them,  and  incorporate  them  thus  in  the  ordinary 
population.  In  Scotland  this  system  has  been  developed 
much  further  than  in  this  country,  and  not  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  insane  are  living  in  families.^  In  Massachu- 
setts 350  patients  were  so  placed  in  1906,  and  although 
indiscriminate  boarding  in  families  is  not   advocated,  yet 

1  Heg,  N.  C.  C,  1896. 

2  Jhi.  Jour,  of  Insanity,  October,  1898. 
8  Lathrop,  N.  C.  C,  1902,  pp.  185  ff. 


330  AMERICAN  CRABITIES. 

this  method  certainly  provides  at  minimum  cost  for  a  certain 
class  of  patients  who  could  not  be  discharged  upon  their  own 
resources,  but  who  appear  fit  for  greater  liberty  than  an 
insane  hospital  provides.^ 

Patients  are  cared  for  to  a  decreasing  extent  in  private 
institutions.  Some  of  the  gravest  abuses  have  grown  up  in 
these  private  homes  or  retreats,  and,  as  a  rule,  commitment 
to  a  public  institution  is  regarded  as  safer  than  to  a  private 
institution,  unless  the  character  of  the  man  in  charge  is  very 
well  known. 

After  the  classification  by  sex,  and  in  the  South  by  color, 
the  next  great  line  of  division  among  the  insane  which 
specialists  have  attempted  to  make  has  been  between  acute, 
or  possibly  curable,  and  the  chronic,  or  probably  incurable, 
cases.  In  order  to  make  cure  as  likely  as  possible,  it  is 
desirable  that  institutions  should  be  small,  the  number  of 
attendants  large,  of  good  character,  and  the  best  training, 
and  all  the  conditions  of  life  as  nearly  like  those  of  a  normal 
home  as  possible.  To  provide  such  facilities  as  these  with 
the  purpose  of  curative  treatment  is  expensive ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  take  adequate  care  of  the  chronic  or  prob- 
ably incurable  insane  requires  a  comparatively  small  per 
capita  expenditure.  Experts  have  constantly  agitated  for 
the  separation  of  the  two  classes;  but  the  ordinary  citizen 
generally  objects  to  the  establishment  of  an  asylum  for 
the  chronic  insane  because  it  emphasizes  tlie  hopelessness 
of  their  condition. 

In  the  States  where  this  classification  between  institu- 
tions has  been  measurably  maintained,  it  results  in  very 
considerable  saving,  and  in  considerably  better  treatment 
for  the  curable  insane.  At  the  same  time  insanity  is  not 
usually  a  curable  disease.  Even  in  the  best-managed  insti- 
tutions, and  those  receiving  the  likeliest  class  of  patients, 
less  than  30  per  cent  permanently  recover.     The  statement 

1  Fish,  N.  C.  C,  liX)7,  pp.  438  ff.;  Sanborn,  pp.  448  ff. 


THE  INSANE.  S31 

of  Dr.  Thurnam,  an  English  expert,  made  many  years 
ago,  based  on  the  experience  of  forty-four  years  at  the  York 
Retreat,  still  comes  nearer  the  truth  than  the  more  sanguine 
predictions  of  later  authorities.     Dr.  Thurnam  says  :  — 

"In  round  numbers,  of  ten  persons  attacked  by  insanity,  five  re- 
cover, and  five  die  sooner  or  later  during  tiie  first  attack.  Of  the  five 
who  recover,  not  more  than  two  remain  well  during  the  rest  of  their 
lives ;  the  other  three  sustain  subsequent  attacks,  during  which  at 
least  two  of  them  die." 

After  the  separation  of  the  curable  from  the  incurable,  in 
order  to  provide  for  the  proper  care  of  each,  the  next  most 
important  classification  is,  perhaps,  into  the  criminal  and 
the  non-criminal  insane.  Some  States  have  treated  the 
criminal  insane  as  criminals,  and  provided  for  them  in 
branch  penitentiaries.  Others  have  treated  them  as  insane, 
and  put  them  into  the  same  institution  with  other  persons 
of  that  class,  sometimes  to  the  danger  and  often  to  the 
disgust  of  such  other  patients  and  their  friends  and  rela- 
tives. The  best  policy,  and  the  one  adopted  by  the  pro- 
gressive States,  is  to  have  a  separate  asylum  for  the  criminal 
insane.^ 

Another  essential  to  the  proper  classification  is  the  sep- 
aration from  the  insane  of  those  who  are  epileptics,  and 
also  the  distinctly  feeble-minded.  The  class  of  epileptics, 
especially,  is  a  great  annoyance  both  to  the  inmates  and 
managers  of  institutions  for  the  insane,  as  they  require 
special  treatment  which  they  can  properly  have  only  in  a 
special  institution.  Beyond  these  distinctions  which  obtain 
as  between  institutions,  there  must  further  be  a  classifica- 
tion of  the  insane  in  any  given  institution  to  bring  together 
those  that  do  not  vex  or  excite  one  another,  and  to  segregate 
the  filthy  and  the  unmanageable.  It  is  one  of  the  defects 
of  very  large  institutions  that  have  been  erected  in  some 

1  Barrows,  "  The  Criminal  Insane,"  pp.  5-14. 


832  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

States,  that  the  wards  are  too  large  to  make  possible  proper 
classification  and  consequent  individualization  of  cases. 

The  recent  discussions  upon  the  care  of  the  insane  have 
turned  upon  the  harmonizing  and  unifying  of  the  most  de- 
sirable features  of  all  the  systems  now  in  use.  Dr.  Frederick 
Peterson  names  as  the  two  essential  provisions  of  an  ade- 
quate system,  psychopathic  hospitals  for  the  acutely  insane 
in  the  cities,  and  colonies  for  the  mixed  classes  of  insane  in 
the  adjacent  country.  In  1907,  the  Committee  on  the  Insane, 
of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections, 
formulated  a  comprehensive  plan  in  which  they  laid  down 
the  following  principles :  the  claims  of  locality  should  have 
primary  consideration  in  the  location  of  institutions  and  dis- 
tribution of  patients  in  order  that  they  may  be  accessible 
to  friends  and  to  promote  local  convenience  and  interest. 
Classification  is  imperative, —  the  acute  and  curable  from 
the  chronic  and  incurable,  the  harmless  from  the  violent, — 
but  the  Committee  think  these  requirements  are  best  met 
under  the  same  local  management,  by  suitable  separation  in 
space,  variety  of  buildings  and  equipment,  and  judicious 
grouping.  They  believe  that  large  institutions,  whether  de- 
sirable or  not,  are  inevitable  and  must  develop  along  the  two 
lines  of  efficient  economical  administration  and  excellence 
of  medical  and  scientific  work  under  a  single  unif^dng 
authority,  —  a  medical  executive,  with  a  clear  subdivision 
and  definition  of  departments. 

The  Committee  proposes  the  classification  of  the  2000 
insane  of  a  single  district  into  three  groups :  the  acute  and 
curable  ;  the  chronic  infirm,  dangerous,  and  custodial ;  and 
the  chronic  harmless  and  able-bodied.  These  should  be  in 
separate  buildings,  the  distance  might  vary  from  a  few 
hundred  feet  to  many  miles,  and  they  would  be  designated, 
respectively,  the  hospital,  the  asylum,  and  the  colony.  The 
hospital  should  receive  all  patients  for  observation  and  ex- 
amination and  retain  the  curable  ;  it  should  be  the  centre  of 


THE  INSANE.  333 

the  higher  medical  and  scientific  work,  under  the  direction 
of  an  expert  psj'chiatrist,  with  a  staff  of  physicians  and 
laboratory  workers  and  a  training  school  for  nurses.  The 
asylum  would  receive  the  infirm,  dangerous,  and  untrust- 
worthy, and  its  main  purpose  would  be  safe  custody  and 
palliative  treatment.  The  colony  would  take  the  harmless 
patients  and  establish  them  in  small,  homelike  groups,  ac- 
cording to  their  condition,  and  reeducate  them  in  industrial 
activities.  But  a  considerable  portion  of  the  harmless 
chronic  class  might  be  placed  in  the  private  care  of  families 
and  supervised  from  the  central  institution,  as  is  done  in 
Massachusetts. 

Besides  this  comprehensive  scheme  for  combining  the 
large  institution  under  centralized  control  with  thorough 
classification  and  the  essential  features  of  the  colony,  there 
are  two  special  aspects  of  the  care  of  the  insane  which  have 
lately  been  strongly  emphasized.  American  physicians 
trained  in  Europe  where  clinics  in  psychiatry  have  long 
been  established,  have  felt  the  need  of  separate  hospitals 
for  the  observation  of  acute  and  incipient  mental  diseases. 
Dr.  J.  Montgomery  Mosher  describes  the  complicated  legal 
procedure  for  commitment  of  an  insane  person  in  New 
York  and  says  :  — 

"In  brief,  a  patient  who  is  suffering  from  a  disease  of  the  mind, 
the  most  threatening  calamity  of  life,  must  be  so  far  advanced  in  the 
disease  and  so  disordered  in  action  or  in  speech  as  to  satisfy  a  lay 
tribunal  of  the  necessity  or  the  justification  of  the  forcible  deprivation 
of  his  liberty,  must  be  told  that  he  is  '  insane,'  must  be  'adjudged 
insane,'  and  committed  by  a  court  to  an  institution  for  the  insane 
before  he  can  receive  the  treatment  best  adapted  to  the  restoration  of 
his  health."  i 

The  demand  for  a  hospital  for  the  mentally  disturbed, 
where  they  may  be  properly  observed  and  cared  for  pending 

1  Mosher,  N.  C.  C,  1907,  p.  423;  in  1908  the  law  was  modified  so  as  to 
permit  voluntary  commitment. 


334  AMEBIC  AN  CHARITIES. 

a  decision  as  to  the  necessity  for  commitment,  has  been  met 
by  the  establishment  of  different  types  of  psychopathic 
hospitals.  In  New  York,  the  psychopathic  hospital  is 
located  at  one  of  the  State  asylums  and  serves  for  all ;  in 
Michigan,  it  is  located  at  the  State  University  and  is  a  cen- 
tral institution  for  the  State  asylums  ;  and  in  Albany  it  is  a 
department  of  a  general  hospital  for  mental  diseases,  known 
as  Pavilion  F.  The  report  of  five  years'  work  at  Pavilion  F 
illustrates  the  humanity  and  the  economy  of  the  system.^ 

Under  treatment  without  legal  process 905 

Improved  or  recovered 696 

Stationary 316 

Died 86 

Committed  after  period  of  observation 118 

Under  detention  during  legal  process 126 

1031 

If  this  special  provision  had  not  been  made,  905  of  these 
patients  would  either  have  had  to  be  treated  at  home  or 
would  have  been  committed  after  a  probably  harmful 
development  of  the  disease.  All  alienists  are  agreed  that 
early  recognition  of  the  disease  and  treatment  are  most  im- 
portant in  insanity,  and  Dr.  Barnett  of  Michigan  urges  that 
the  character  of  psychopathic  hospitals  should  be  such  that 
patients,  after  recovery  and  return  to  civil  life,  should  feel 
no  more  embarrassment  than  if  they  had  been  ill  in  a  general 
hospital.  Dr.  Adams,  superintendent  of  the  Westboro, 
Massachusetts,  Insane  Hospital,  to  which  patients  have  long 
been  admitted  by  voluntary  application,  is  heartily  in  favor 
of  the  system  as  a  measure  for  preventing  the  accumulation 
of  incurably  insane  in  asylums  by  securing  treatment  early 
enough  to  bring  about  recovery.^ 

Not  less  important  than  the  provisions  for  incipient  in- 
sanity is  the  care  of  insane  persons  upon  their  discharge  as 

1  N.  C.  C,  1907,  p.  427.  2  /^j^^.^  1907,  pp.  434-437. 


THE  INSANE.  335 

recovered.  Although  societies  for  the  after-care  of  the  insane 
have  existed  in  Europe  for  three-quarters  of  a  century,  the 
first  society  of  this  sort  in  this  country  was  organized  by  the 
New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association  in  1906.  It 
is  believed  that  from  10  to  25  per  cent  of  patients 
need  friends,  guidance,  and  assistance  upon  their  discharge, 
and  that  such  help  promptly  given  will  prevent  the  relapse 
and  recommitment  of  a  considerable  number.^ 

No  mention  can  here  be  made  of  the  improvement  in  the 
treatment  of  the  insane  which  comes  only  through  an  im- 
provement in  the  personnel  of  the  institution,  through  free- 
dom from  spoils  politics,  through  the  introduction  of  civil 
service  reform,  through  the  activity  of  clubs  of  men  con- 
nected with  each  institution  organized  for  their  mutual  im- 
provement, and  through  the  development  of  training  schools 
for  attendants  upon  the  insane.  It  is  by  these  and  other 
agencies  that  the  present  great  advancement  is  being  made 
along  the  lines  of  greater  wisdom  in  treatment,  greater  kind- 
ness in  control,  and  greater  freedom  within  the  bounds  of 
safety  for  the  insane. 

1  Report  of  State  Charities  Aid  Association,  1906 ;  Nos.  92  and  93. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  FEEBLE-MINDED,  EPILEPTIC,  AND   INEBRIATE. 

The  term  "  feeble-minded  "  is  now  used  to  cover  all  grades 
of  idiocy  and  imbecility,  from  the  child  that  is  merely  dull 
and  incapable  of  profiting  by  the  ordinary  school,  to  the  gela- 
tinous mass  that  simply  eats  and  lives.  If  it  is  difficult  to 
give  an  exact  definition  of  insanity,  it  is  manifestly  even 
more  difficult  to  give  an  exact  definition  of  feeble-minded- 
ness.  Dr.  Ireland,  in  accordance  with  English  usage,  defines 
idiocy  separately  as  :  — 

"  A  mental  deficiency  or  extreme  stupidity,  depending  upon  malnu- 
trition or  disease  of  the  nervous  centres,  occurring  either  before  birth 
or  before  the  evolution  of  the  mental  faculties  in  childhood." 

Dr.  Martin  W.  Barr,  of  Elwyn,  Pennsylvania,  gives  a  more 
comprehensive  definition :  — 

"  Feeble-mindedness,  including  idiocy  and  imbecility,  is  defect, 
either  mental  or  moral,  or  both,  usually  associated  with  certain  physi- 
cal stigmata  or  degeneration.  Although  incurable,  its  lesser  forms 
may  be  susceptible  of  amelioration  or  modification,  just  in  proportion 
as  they  have  been  superinduced  by  causes  congenital  or  accidental." 

The  class  to  which  the  technical  term  "feeble-mindedness" 
is  applied  may  be  expected  to  increase  as  specialists  improve 
their  acquaintance  with  the  different  symptoms.  For  this 
reason,  as  in  the  case  of  the  insane,  the  census  figures  bear- 
ing upon  the  subject  indicate  a  rate  of  increase  out  of  all 
proportion,  probably,  to  any  actual  increase  of  the  condition 
of  feeble-mindedness  in  the  population. 

In  1880  the  enumeration,  although  not  complete,  was  more 
nearly  so  than  in  the  two  later  ones  ;  at  that  time  there  were 

336 


THE  FEEBLE-MINDED,  EPILEPTIC,  INEBRIATE.     337 

reported  76,895  feeble-minded  persons  —  a  proportion  of 
153.3  persons  per  100,000  of  the  population.  In  1890,  the 
number  was  95,609,  or  152.7  per  100,000  of  population;  but 
as  this  census  was  not  supplemented  by  reports  from  physi- 
cians as  the  previous  one  had  been,  it  undoubtedly  falls 
far  short  of  the  total  number.  In  1903  the  census  law  called 
for  an  enumeration  of  those  in  institutions  only,  which 
makes  the  figures  not  comparable  with  those  of  1880  and 
1890.  Of  those  enumerated  in  1890,  only  5254  were  in  spe- 
cial institutions,  and  2469  in  asylums  for  the  insane,  the 
number  in  almshouses  being  unknown.  In  1903  the  feeble- 
minded in  institutions  numbered  only  14,347,  and  there 
were  in  almshouses  16,551  "  supposedly "  feeble-minded. 
Competent  authorities  place  the  number  of  those  needing 
institutional  treatment  at  the  present  time  at  150,000.^ 

It  is  apparent  that  provision  for  the  institutional  care  of 
the  feeble-minded  is  much  less  adequate  than  for  the  other 
defective  classes.  In  1890  there  were  twenty  public  and  four 
private  institutions.  Table  LXV.  shows  the  numbers  and 
distribution  of  institutions  and  inmates  in  1904. 

In  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania  there  are 
two  or  more  institutions  ;  in  the  North  Central  division 
every  State  has  a  public  institution ;  in  the  South  Atlantic 
and  South  Central  divisions  there  are  altogether  only  six 
institutions ;  while  in  twenty-four  States  there  are  none  at 
all.  In  these  latter  States  the  feeble-minded  are  in  alms- 
houses, insane  asylums,  or  chiefly  in  homes,  receiving  neither 
custodial  care  nor  industrial  training.  Only  a  few  of  the 
forty-two  institutions  are  custodial,  the  greater  number 
being  for  feeble-minded  children,  and  none  of  the  public 
institutions  can  provide  for  all  the  applicants. 

Of  the  16,946  inmates  of  these  institutions,  53.8  per  cent 
were  males,  46.2  per  cent  females ;  75  per  cent  were  be- 
tween five  and  twenty  years  of  age  ;  nearly  one-third  were 

1  Special  Report,"  Feeble-minded  in  Institutions,"  1903-liX)4,  p.  205. 


338 


AMEBIC  AN   CHARITIES. 


TABLE   LXV. 
Feeble-minded  ix  Institutions,  1904.* 


State. 


Continental  United  States 

North  Atlantic  Division . 

New  Hampsliire  .  .  . 
Massachusetts  .  .  . 
Connecticut      .... 

New  York 

New  Jersey      .... 

Pennsylvania  .... 

South  Atlantic  Division  . 

Maryland 

Virginia  

West  Virginia      .    .     . 
North  Central  Division  . 


Ohio 

Indiana    

Illinois 

Michigan  .... 
Wisconsin  .... 
Minnesota    .... 

Iowa 

Missouri  .... 
North  Dakota .  .  . 
South  Dakota  .  .  . 
Nebraska     .... 

Kansas 

South  Central  Division 


Kentucky     .     . 
Western  Division 


Colorado 
Washington 
California     . 


Total 
Number 

of 
lomates. 


16,946 


6,651 


72 
995 
262 

2,594 
527 

2,201 
397 


176 

46 

175 

8,859 


1,307 

1,118 

1,507 

657 

710 

1,071 

1,152 

354 

86 

77 

386 

434 

244 


244 

795 


33 
124 
638 


Number  of  Inmates. 


Enu- 
mer- 
ated, 
Dec.  31, 
1903. 


14,347 


5,699 


64 
878 
219 

2,135 
460 

1,943 
338 


162 

35 

141 

7,459 


1,125 
1,036 
1,283 
516 
611 
888 
981 
250 

51 
337 
381 

189 


189 
662 


14 

81 
567 


Admit- 
ted 
during 
19U4. 


2,599 


952 


117 

43 
459 

67 
258 

59 


14 

11 

34 

1,400 


182 

82 

224 

141 

99 

183 

171 

104 

86 

26 

49 

53 

55 


55 
133 


Dis- 
charged, 
died,  or 
trans- 
ferred 
during 
1904. 


1,435 


671 


5 
71 
27 

355 
37 

176 
32 


6 

18 

607 


59 

101 

116 

46 

36 

76 

107 

24 

1 

5 

23 

13 

29 


NtTMBER   OF 
I.NSTITUTIONS. 


Public. 


28 


11 


1 

12 


*  Special  Census  lieport,  p.  208. 


THE  FEEBLE-MINDED,  EPILEPTIC,  INEBRIATE.     339 

found  to  be  epileptic,  blind,  deaf-mute,  paralytic,  crippled, 
maimed,  or  deformed.  For  the  feeble-minded  and  epileptic, 
who  are  in  need  of  institutional  care  quite  as  much  as  the 
insane,  provision  has  only  just  begun  and  is  likely  to  be 
inadequate  for  many  years  to  come. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  symptomatic  causes  of  poverty  it 
has  been  already  shown  that  a  neurotic  heredity  and  bad 
conditions  of  the  mother  during  gestation  and  childbirth  are 
among  the  chief  causes  of  imbecility.^  The  social  results 
and  the  cost  to  the  community  of  leaving  feeble-minded 
children  without  education  and  adults  without  protection 
may  be  illustrated  by  the  experience  of  Indiana,  as  described 
by  Mr.  Amos  W.  Butler  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities. 
From  a  study  of  803  families  selected  because  of  feeble- 
mindedness, and  made  from  the  office  records,  the  following 
facts  were  derived  :  — 

"These  families  consist  of  3048  members,  of  whom  1664,  or  55  per 
cent,  are  feeble-minded.  .  .  .  Counting  only  those  of  whose  parents 
we  have  some  information,  it  was  found  that  of  1748,  or  57.3  per  cent, 
one  or  the  other,  and  frequently  both,  of  the  parents  were  feeble- 
minded or  afflicted  with  some  related  physical  defect.  Included  in  the 
803  families  are  312  families  in  which  feeble-mindedness  was  found  in 
two  or  more  generations.  In  this  group  there  are  1643  individuals,  of 
whom  57  per  cent  are  feeble-minded,  and  60.6  per  cent  are  either  men- 
tally or  physically  defective.  .  .  .  The  entire  number  of  descendants, 
extending  into  the  fifth  generation  and  including  96  men  and  women 
who  married  into  the  families,  is  1019,  and  among  them  are  624  defec- 
tives. This  indicates  inherited  defect  in  61.2  per  cent  of  the  descend- 
ants of  these  feeble-minded  parents."  ^ 

The  origin  of  the  work  of  training  the  feeble-minded  has 
two  sources :  one  the  school,  and  one  the  hospital ;  it  lies 
between  the  department  of  education  and  the  department  of 
medicine.     The  schools  for  the  deaf  and  blind  found  them- 

1  Dr.  Ireland  and  Dr.  Barr  both  treat  the  causes  of  feeble-mindedness  at 
length. 

2  N.  C.  C,  1907,  p.  8;  statistical  tables  in  full,  pp.  611-614;  see  also 
N.  C.  C,  1896,  similar  study  and  statistics,  pp.  219-226. 


340  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

selves  asked  to  educate  children  that  were  also  feeble- 
minded, and  hospitals  for  the  insane  were  asked  to  treat  a 
large  number  of  imbeciles.  The  educational  element  was  at 
first  most  strongly  developed.  Hopes  were  entertained  of 
making  50  or  75  per  cent  of  the  feeble-minded  self-support- 
ing ;  but  that  optimistic  view  had  to  be  modified,  and  it  is 
now  seen  that  not  more  than  10  or  15  per  cent  can  be  made 
self-supporting  in  the  sense  that  they  can  return  to  an  inde- 
pendent life  in  the  ordinary  population.^ 

The  first  step  in  the  treatment  of  the  feeble-minded  is 
thorough  classification  with  reference  to  their  educability  and 
their  possible  return  to  life  in  the  world.  Although  medi- 
cal men  may  differ  upon  the  scientific  gradation  of  different 
classes,  for  educational  purposes  there  is  essential  agree- 
ment. Dr.  Barr  proposes  the  following  classification  for 
determining  the  degree  of  restraint,  and  the  capacity  for 
mental  and  moi-al  development. 

Educational  Classification  of  the  Feeble-minded.^ 

I.   Asylum  Care: 

A.  Idiot: 

profound  |  apathetic  |  unimprovable. 
I  excitable  i 

superficial  i  >  improvable  in  self-help  only. 

I.  excitable ) 

B.  Idio-imbecile  : 

improvable  in  self-help  and  helpfulness. 

trainable  in  a  very  limited  degree  to  assist  others. 
II.    Custodial  Life  and  Perpetual  Guardianship  : 

A.   Moral  imbecile  :  mentally  and  morally  deficient. 

low-grade  :  trainable  in  industrial  occupations  ;  tempera- 
ment bestial. 

middle  grade :  trainable  in  industrial  and  manual  occu- 
pations ;  a  plotter  of  mischief. 

high-grade  :   trainable  in  manual  and  intellectual  arts ; 
v?ith  a  genius  for  evil. 

IN.  C.  C,  18!)8,  ToweU,  p.  293;  Seguiii  and  Johnson,  N.  C.  C,  1896, 
p.  215. 

2  "  Mental  Defectives,"  p.  90;  reprinted  in  Charities,  vol.  xii.,  1904,  p.  881. 


THE  FEEBLE-MINDED,  EPILEPTIC,  INEBRIATE.    341 

III.   Long  Apprenticeship  and  Coloyiy  Life  under  Protection : 
A.    Imbecile  :  mentally  deficient. 

low-grade  :  trainable  in  industrial  and  simple  manual 

occupations, 
middle-grade :  trainable   in   manual   arts  and  simplest 
mental  acquirements.  ' 

high-grade  :  trainable  in  manual  and  intellectual  arts. 

IV,    Trained  for  a  Place  in  the  World : 
A.    Backward  or  mentally  feeble  : 

mental  processes  normal,  but  slow  and  requiring  special 
training  and  environment  to  prevent  deterioration  ; 
defect  imminent  under  slightest  provocation,  such  as 
excitement,  over-stimulation,  or  illness. 

The  general  principles  of  the  treatment  of  this  class  of 
defectives  as  laid  down  by  the  Special  Committee  of  the 
London  Charity  Organization  Society  in  1877  are  still 
accepted.  At  that  time  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan  reported  for 
the  Committee:  that  idiots  and  imbeciles  should  be  treated 
separately  from  other  classes  ;  they  should  not  be  associated 
with  lunatics  or  paupers,  nor  could  they  be  placed  with 
advantage  in  the  ordinary  schools  with  other  children,  nor 
boarded  ovit  as  lunatics  often  were.  The  Committee  recom- 
mended that  their  education  should  begin  at  the  earliest 
moment  at  which  they  could  dispense  with  a  mother's  care, 
and  should  be  of  a  physical  and  industrial  character;  they 
should  be  especially  encouraged  to  develop  any  talents  in 
order  to  promote  their  self-respect  and  happiness.  The  Com- 
mittee were  not  over-sanguine :  they  thought  that  a  few 
might  be  returned  to  their  homes,  a  larger  number  could  be 
fitted  for  employment  under  superintendence, but  the  greater 
proportion  would  be  unfit  to  be  restored  to  society  and 
should  have  custodial  care,  under  medical  supervision,  in  an 
economical  manner  and,  as  far  as  possible,  with  industrial 
employment.     They  concluded  with  the  statement,  "  What- 


342  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

ever  be  the  cost  of  educating  them,  the  cost  of  neglecting 
them  is  greater  still."  ^ 

Concerning  the  special  methods  of  education  required, 
Dr.  Barr  says  that  as  many  of  the  lower  grades  are  incapable 
'Of  observation,  they  must  be  persistently  taught  what  normal 
children  acquire  intuitively, — the  proper  mastication  of  food, 
the  use  of  spoon,  fork,  and  knife,  the  dressing  and  care  of  the 
body,  the  standing  and  walking  unsupported,  the  very 
simplest  matters  of  self-help;  the  sense  organs  must  be 
tested  in  order  that  defects  may  be  remedied  by  medical 
treatment ;  their  senses  must  be  awakened  and  stimulated, 
attention  attracted,  imitation  encouraged  by  simple  occupa- 
tions. For  the  higher  grades  there  must  be  development 
of  the  emotions,  through  exercise  in  ethical  acts,  achieving 
habits  ;  of  tlie  body  by  physical  exercises  and  manual  train- 
ing to  promote  mental  activity;  of  the  mind,  achieving  self- 
hood. And  all  these  methods  should  be  assisted  by  environ- 
ment, association,  amusement,  and  discipline.^ 

As  has  been  already  noted,  the  most  hopeful  aspect  of 
work  for  the  feeble-minded  was  that  first  undertaken  in  the 
United  States,  in  institutions  for  the  education  of  feeble- 
minded children.  It  was  inevitable,  since  many  of  them 
could  not  be  safely  returned  to  the  world,  and  as  the  insti- 
tutions grew  older,  that  numbers  of  adults  should  accumulate 
in  the  training  schools.  In  recent  years,  the  segregation 
and  custodial  care  of  adults  —  especially  of  feeble-minded 
women  —  has  assumed  a  social  importance  even  greater  than 
the  education  of  children.  Many  illustrations — such  as  that 
given  by  Mr.  Amos  W.Butler  of  Indiana,  of  5  feeble-minded 
mothers  of  19  children,  15  of  whom  had  spent  a  total  of  136 
years  in  institutions,  at   an  average  expense  of   $100  per 

1  Trevelyan,  Special  Report,  "  Education  and  Cure  of  Idiots,"  etc., 
1877,  London,  Longmans  ;  reprinted  in  Ireland,  "  Mental  Affections  of 
Children,"  pp.  405  ff. 

2  Barr,  "  Mental  Defectives,"  Chap.  VIL 


THE  FEEBLE-MINDED,  EPILEPTIC,  INEBRIATE.    343 

year  —  have  drawn  attention  to  the  necessity  for  preventing 
the  reproduction  of  this  class. ^ 

The  custodial  care  of  the  feeble-minded  having  been 
assumed  by  the  managers  of  the  schools  for  children,  it  was 
found  that,  under  wise  administration,  the  adult  imbeciles 
could  be  useful  in  the  work  of  the  institution ;  and  that  it 
was  better,  therefore,  to  introduce  the  colony  plan  with  ap- 
propriate segregation  of  classes,  than  to  establish  other  new 
institutions  for  the  custodial  care  of  adults.  For  instance,  at 
Elwyn,  it  was  found  that  many  feeble-minded  women  had 
a  liking  for  children,  and  that  they  could  be  distinctly  ser- 
viceable in  taking  care  of  the  young  children  in  the  school 
department,  a  work  which  made  them  happier,  and  benefited 
their  own  malady  as  far  as  anything  could.  "  It  is  not,"  as 
Dr.  Knight  said,  "because  the  managers  of  these  institutions 
wish  to  build  up  a  great  institution,  but  because  by  the 
colony  plan  a  larger  share  of  service  can  be  rendered  than 
by  splitting  one  institution  into  several  new  ones."  Kew 
York,  however,  established  special  custodial  homes  for  adult 
idiots  and  a  home  for  feeble-minded  women,  and  New  Jersey 
has  followed  the  example.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether 
specialists  will  conclude  that  classification  should  be  main- 
tained as  between  institutions,  or  whether  it  should  be  carried 
on  in  large  institutions  on  the  colony  plan.     With  the  plan 

1  Another  case  is  given  by  Dr.  Fernald:  "  A  feeble-minded  girl  of  the 
higher  grade  was  accepted  as  a  pupil  in  the  Massachusetts  School  for  the 
Feeble-minded  when  she  was  fifteen  years  of  age.  At  the  last  moment 
the  mother  refused  to  send  her  to  the  school,  as  she  'could  not  bear  the  dis- 
grace of  publicly  admitting  that  she  had  a  feeble-minded  child.'  Ten  years 
later  the  girl  was  committed  to  the  institution  by  the  court,  after  she  had 
given  birth  to  six  illegitimate  children,  four  of  whom  were  still  living  and 
all  feeble-minded.  The  city  where  she  lived  had  supported  her  at  the 
almshouse  for  a  period  of  several  months  at  each  confinement,  and  had 
been  compelled  to  assume  the  burden  of  the  lifelong  support  of  her 
progeny,  and  finally  decided  to  place  her  in  permanent  custody.  Her 
mother  had  died  broken-hearted  several  years  previously."  N.  C.  C, 
1893,  pp.  212-213. 


344  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

of  detached  buildings  for  different  classes,  the  dependents 
can  be  provided  for  at  an  expense  of  about  $400  per  patient 
for  construction,  which  is  much  less  than  the  construction 
cost  heretofore  thought  necessary  for  the  insane. 

That  custodial  care  for  most  grades  of  the  feeble-minded 
is  increasingly  demanded  cannot  be  doubted.  It  has  been 
later  in  coming  than  the  custodial  care  of  the  chronic  insane, 
because  the  latter  are  more  actively  and  obviously  mischiev- 
ous to  society ;  but  in  proportion  as  the  importance  of 
human  selection  becomes  better  understood,  the  custodial 
care  throughout  life  of  the  feeble-minded  of  both  sexes  will 
be  demanded. 

At  the  present  time  the  tendency  seems  to  be  strongly 
toward  a  modified  colony  plan,  partly  from  motives  of 
economy  and  partly  because  of  the  accumulation  of  the 
trained  feeble-minded  in  the  schools  who  should  still  be 
under  protection.  Massachusetts  has  solved  the  difficulty 
by  establishing  a  farm  colony  for  a  selected  class  of 
the  trained  feeble-minded.  The  seven  farms  comprising 
2000  acres  of  cheap  lands  with  their  buildings  are  60  miles 
from  the  training  school.  Groups  of  older  boys  are  trans- 
ferred from  the  school  to  the  farmhouses  and  cottages  and 
lead  there  a  normal  country  life,  earning  a  part  of  their 
livelihood  and  shielded  from  temptation  and  competition.^ 

One  of  the  latest  developments  of  public  education  closely 
related  to  the  treatment  of  the  feeble-minded  is  the  special 
classes  for  backward  children  in  the  public  schools.  Such 
children  are  characterized  by  moral  and  mental  weak- 
nesses verging  on  defect  such  as  faulty  expression  and  lack 
of  normal  growth,  nervous  disorders  from  lack  of  tone  to 
muscular  tremors,  and  digestive  disorders   resulting  from 

1  N.  C.  C,  1902,  pp.  487-405.  The  propositions  to  check  the  reproduc- 
tion of  the  unfit  by  strict  marriage  laws  and  by  sterilization  have  already 
been  discussed  on  pp.  28-31;  see  also  N.  C.  C,  1897,  p.  301;  1898,  p.  302, 
p.  304;  1902,  p.  152, 


THE  FEEBLE-MINDED^  EPILEPTIC,  INEBRIATE.    345 

malnutrition.  Many  of  them  have  misshapen  heads,  highly 
arched  palates,  faulty  chests,  and  defects  of  the  special 
senses.  "  An  examination  of  100,000  children  out  of  600,000 
registered  in  the  New  York  City  schools  in  1906  showed  66 
per  cent  needing  medical  or  surgical  attention  or  better 
nourishment,  40  per  cent  in  need  of  dental  care,  38  per  cent 
having  enlarged  cervical  glands,  31  per  cent  defective  vision, 
18  per  cent  enlarged  tonsils,  and  10  per  cent  post-nasal 
growths.^  Dr.  M.  P.  E.  Groszmann  says  that  these  atypical 
children  are  the  product  of  unfavorable  hereditary  and 
environmental  influences,  but  differ  from  the  really  abnormal 
children  in  that  special  training  and  normal  life  conditions 
will  allow  them  to  reestablish  within  themselves  a  fair 
normality.^ 

Three  kinds  of  classes  are  proposed  for  abnormal  chil- 
dren :  training  classes  for  the  mentally  deficient,  coaching 
classes  for  the  slightly  backward,  delicate,  or  exceptional, 
and  disciplinary  classes  for  the  truant  and  disorderly.  In 
many  cities  a  few  such  classes  now  exist,  but  in  general  the 
teachers  in  charge  of  them  have  had  no  special  training  in 
the  recognition  of  mental  deficiencies  and  are  not  ade- 
quately equipped  for  their  peculiar  task.  In  Boston, 
selected  teachers  are  given  an  opportunity  at  city  expense 
to  observe  the  methods  in  the  best  schools  for  the  feeble- 
minded, and  a  teachers'  course  is  now  offered  at  the  New 
Jersey  Training  School  for  Feeble-minded  Boys  and  Girls. 
The  movement  is  recognized  as  highly  important  not 
merely  for  the  relief  of  the  teachers  of  normal  children  in 
the  public  schools,  but  as  a  preventive  measure.  Such 
children  become  in  many  cases  semi-criminal,  or  at  least 
incapable  of  self-support.  Among  the  group  of  backward 
children  will  be  found  those  who  with  this  special  training 

1  Quoted  from  Allen,  "  Efficient  Democracy,"  p.  79. 

2  See  Dr.  Groszmann's  classification  and  discussion  of  atypical  children, 
Charities,  vol.  xii.,  1904,  p.  897. 


346  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

and  medical  care  may  become  normal,  and  among  them  also 
some  who  will  prove  to  be  really  feeble-minded  and  in 
need  of  institutional  care.  In  either  case  the  work  of  pre-- 
vention  is  economical  as  well  as  humane.^ 

A  further  and  quite  recent  differentiation  in  the  classes 
mentally  and  nervously  diseased  is  the  provision  of  colony 
care  for  epileptics.  It  has  long  been  recognized  that  their 
presence  in  institutions  for  the  feeble-minded  and  the 
insane  is  unfortunate  from  the  standpoint  of  the  other 
patients,  while  at  the  same  time  the  special  attention  they 
need  cannot  be  given  them.  At  most  of  the  large  institu- 
tions for  other  classes,  special  wards  or  buildings  are  pro- 
vided where  those  subject  to  epileptic  seizures  may  be 
cared  for.  But  even  this  arrangement  is  inadequate,  since 
the  epileptic,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  disease  at  least,  is 
a  sane  person,  and  conscious  of  his  surroundings  in  the 
intervals  between  attacks.  By  far  the  larger  part  of  them 
are  without  institutional  care,  and  the  unhappy  condition  of 
the  epileptic  in  the  world  is  thus  described  by  Dr.  Barr :  — 

"  Cut  off  more  or  less  from  school  companionship  and  association 
.  .  .  however  well  prepared  he  may  become,  his  infirmity  must 
always  prove  an  impediment  to  securing  positions  of  trust  or  respon- 
sibility. An  object  thus  of  terror  or  of  pity  ...  he  gravitates 
toward  a  life  of  self-indulgence  or  of  monotony  and  loneliness,  tending 
greatly  to  produce  mental  deterioration.  .  .  .  Various  phases  of  the 
disease  are  characterized  by  wanderings,  delusions,  or  even  by  the  per- 
petration of  violent  acts  of  which  the  patient  may  be  oblivious.  .  .  . 
This  leads  to  the  crowding  of  these  unfortunates  into  insane  asylums 
or  into  institutions  for  the  feeble-minded.  This  is  a  double  wrong  .  .  . 
because  he  is  more  lonely  than  at  home  with  no  motive  for  active 
pursuits."  2 

There  were  enumerated  in  1904  in  insane  asylums  11,652 
epileptics,  in  institutions  for  the  feeble-minded   3015,  and 

1  Chase,  N.  C.  C,  1904,  p.  .390  ff.,  liistory  of  such  classes;  Charities, 
vol.  xii.,  liX)4,  p.  871  ff.,  several  vahiable  articles  by  experts. 

2  Barr,  "  Mental  Defectives,"  p.  225. 


THE  FEEBLE-MINDED^  EPILEPTIC^  INEBRIATE.    347 

in  almshouses  2106.  Mr.  Letchworth  estimated  in  1900 
that  there  were  113,000  epileptics  in  the  United  States ; 
other  authorities  think  that  150,000  is  nearer  the  truth. 
Epilepsy,  like  feeble-mindedness,  is  preeminently  a  disease 
of  neurotic  heredity.  In  a  study  of  1200  cases  in  the 
Massachusetts  Hospital  for  Epileptics,  Dr.  A.  V.  Cooper 
found  that  15.4  per  cent  presented  a  well-marked  history  of 
hereditary  transmission ;  Spratling  and  Barr  give  much 
higher  percentages,  while  none  of  the  foreign  observers  give 
any  less.^  Dr.  Peterson  emphasizes  its  interrelations  with 
other  neuroses ;  he  says  :  — 

"Epilepsy  is  one  of  the  equivalents  in  polymorphic  heredity.  By 
this  we  imply  that  when  the  nervous  mechanism  governing  the  normal 
evolution  of  both  body  and  mind  is  disarranged,  the  result  is  a  con- 
dition of  nervous  instability  which  manifests  itself  in  the  descendants 
in  some  one  of  many  forms.  The  result  may  be  epilepsy,  chorea, 
neurasthenia,  hysteria,  somnambulism,  migraine,  feeble-mindedness, 
idiocy,  insanity,  inebriety,  criminal  tendencies,  or  simple  eccentric- 
ity. .  .  .  These  are  all  intercliangeable  manifestations  of  an  unstable 
nervous  system.  .  .  .  We  may  assume  heredity  as  a  cause  of  epi- 
lepsy in  at  least  33  per  cent  of  the  cases. ' '  '^ 

Dr.  Peterson  mentions,  among  other  causes,  inebriety 
not  only  in  the  epileptic  but  in  his  parents  ;  injuries  to 
the  head,  infectious  diseases,  and  emotional  shocks  to  the 
mother  or  the  child. 

Epilepsy  is  now  regarded  as  much  more  hopeful  of  cure 
than  formerly,  50  per  cent  of  those  in  institutions  being 
improvable,  and  from  5  to  10  per  cent  even  of  the  confirmed 
cases  curable.^  At  the  Massachusetts  Hospital  nearly  half 
are  physically  and  mentally  capable  of  regular  employment, 
and  about  20  per  cent  more  able  to  do  some  regular  work  at 
times. 

1" Heredity  in  Epilepsy,"  Transactions,  etc.,  p.  155;  Barr,  "Mental 
Defectives,"  Chap.  X. 

2  "  Epilepsy,"  Transactions,  etc.,  1901,  pp.  14-15. 
8  Flood,  Transactions,  etc.,  1906,  p.  273, 


348  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

In  1906  ten  States  had  made  provision  for  epileptics  sep- 
arate from  insane,  pauper,  or  feeble-minded  persons  in  colo- 
nies, villages,  or  hospitals.  There  seems  to  be  an  agree- 
ment among  all  experts  that  colony  or  village  grouping  on 
large  estates  is  the  ideal  method  of  providing  for  this  class. 
Ohio  established  the  first  colony  in  1893  and  has  now  six 
large  cottages  for  women  and  seven  for  men,  accommodating 
about  900  patients  with  a  building  considerably  removed, 
which  accommodates  200  more  of  the  helpless  and  insane 
class  ;  a  hospital  and  other  buildings  providing  for  about 
1400  patients  altogether.  The  Craig  Colony,  at  Sonyea, 
western  New  York,  has  an  estate  of  nearly  2000  acres  and 
about  1000  patients,  most  carefully  classified,  in  small  cot- 
tages for  the  comparatively  normal,  and  in  larger  buildings 
for  the  infirmary  class.  In  scientific  methods  it  has  served 
as  a  model  for  the  newer  institutions.*  The  per  capita  cost 
at  this  institution  has  been  reduced  to  .$141.38.  The  pa- 
tients who  are  able  to  work  contribute  on  the  average  about 
§35  per  year  to  their  own  support. 

The  organization  of  the  National  Association  for  the  study 
of  epilepsy  and  the  care  and  treatment  of  epileptics  in  1900 
has  had  a  marked  influence  in  stimulating  interest  in  the 
subject  of  institutional  care.^  The  dissemination  of  infor- 
mation regarding  the  best  foreign  colonies  especially  Biele- 
feld, and  the  more  advanced  colonies  in  the  United  States, 
is  gradually  educating  the  general  public  to  demand  for  the 
young  epileptic  opportunity  for  training  and  care,  and  for 
the  incurable  class  occupation,  so  long  as  they  remain  capar 

1  Reports  from  all  the  State  institutions  are  found  in  Transactions, 
etc..  1906. 

2  The  Association  was  founded  for  these  purposes :  to  promote  the 
general  welfare  of  sufferers  from  epilepsy;  to  stimulate  the  study  of  the 
causes  and  the  methods  of  cure ;  to  advocate  the  care  of  epileptics  in 
institutions  where  they  may  receive  a  common  school  education,  acquire 
trades,  and  be  treated  by  the  best  medical  skill ;  to  assist  the  various 
States  in  making  provision  for  epileptics. 


THE  FEEBLE-MINDED,  EPILEPTIC,  INEBRIATE.     349 

ble,  and  custodial  care  when  all  capacity  is  lost  by  mental 
deterioration.  The  emphasis  which  scientists  are  placing 
upon  the  hereditary  character  of  epilepsy  is  creating  also  a 
widespread  belief  that  they  should  not  marry  and  that  soci- 
ety must  protect  itself  from  the  reproduction  of  these  as  of 
others  who  are  unfit. 

To  some  it  may  seem  improper  to  treat  of  the  care  of  the 
inebriate  in  the  same  chapter  with  the  feeble-minded  and 
epileptic,  but  there  is  now  substantial  agreement  among 
medical  experts  that  habitual  drunkenness  is  a  disease,  re- 
quiring custodial  care,  and  that  occasional  drunkenness  is 
frequently  a  symptom  of  neurotic  heredity  demanding 
prompt  medical  attention.^  Intemperance  as  a  cause  of  pov- 
erty has  already  been  discussed  in  Chapter  III. ;  the  predis- 
posing causes  of  drunkenness  in  neurotic  heredity,  lack  of 
education  in  self-control,  lack  of  wholesome  recreation,  and 
the  presence  of  constant  allurements  of  the  saloon  have  also 
been  briefly  touched  upon.^  It  is  with  the  treatment  of  the 
drunkard  that  we  are  now  particularly  concerned.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  slight  attention  was  paid 
to  public  drunkenness  ;  in  the  last  fifty  years  it  has  become 
a  crime  if  accompanied  by  disorderly  conduct.  The  better- 
class  inebriate  generally  manages  to  escape  the  law,  pro- 
tected by  his  friends  and  for  the  sake  of  his  family.  The 
inebriate  of  the  poorer  class  whose  friends  are  unable  to  pro- 
tect him  is  found  drunk  in  the  street,  arrested,  fined,  and 
imprisoned ;  not  being  able  to  pay  the  fine,  he  is  committed 
again  and  again  to  jail.^  The  system  of  short-term  com- 
mitments for  drunkenness  in  the  county  jails  or  in  the 
houses  of  correction  has  no  curative  effect  whatever.  The 
person  who  has  been  convicted  ten  times  for  drunkenness 

1  Brantwaite,  Am.  Jour,  of  Inebriety,  1907,  winter  and  spring  numbers. 
Wilson,  "  Drunkenness  "  ;  Palmer,  "  Inebriety."  ^  Chap.  III. 

s  In  all  American  cities  where  prohibition  is  not  in  force  the  arrests  for 
intoxication  constitute  from  40  to  50  per  cent  of  all  arrests. 


350  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

and  is  convicted  again  is  sentenced  by  the  judge  with  the 
perfect  knowledge  that  no  good  Avill  result,  except  that  the 
person  will  be  kept  from  bothering  the  community  during 
the  time  of  the  sentence,  and  that  he  will  come  out  of  jail  as 
likely  to  offend  against  the  law  as  before  he  was  committed. 
In  some  cases  as  many  as  one  hundred  and  twenty  commit- 
ments have  been  registered  against  a  single  person.  By 
alternating  jails  and  almshouses  in  order  to  secure  a  change 
of  diet  and  associates,  the  habitual  vagabond  drunkard  is 
enabled  to  recuperate  his  shattered  forces  at  the  expense 
of  the  community,  and  prolong  his  life  and  evil  influences 
indefinitely. 

When  he  has  at  last  developed  delirium  tremens,  or  some 
phase  of  insanity,  he  may  be  committed  to  an  insane  asylum  ; 
or  when  he  has  finally  committed  a  crime,  he  may  be  sentenced 
to  prison.  He  may  originally  have  been  a  weak  good  man 
of  bad  heredity,  or  a  vicious  criminal,  but  in  either  case  the 
treatment  received  is  quite  undiscriminating.' 

In  1899  an  advisory  committee  to  the  mayor  of  Boston 
made  a  report  of  great  value,  illustrating  the  futility,  in- 
justice, and  expense  of  the  present  method  of  police  court 
commitments.  Table  LXVI.  shows  the  number  and  per 
cent  of  first  commitments  and  recommitments  for  drunken- 
ness to  all  penal  institutions  in  Massachusetts  for  the  year 
ending  Sept.  30,  1898. 

The  calculable  cost  of  the  procedure  pictured  in  the  table 
was  reckoned  as  follows  :  — 

26,157  arrests  for  drunkenness  at  .«!8.04 $210,494.74 

10,431  committals  to  various  penal  institutions,  served 
all  together  1698  years  at  a  per  capita  cost  from  §84.70 
to  .^184.69  per  year 129,008.12 

Total $339,502.86 

Income  from  fines 23,490.78 

Net  cost  of  arrests  and  imprisonment $316,012.08 

1  Wilson,  p.  149. 


THE  FEEBLE-MINDED,  EPILEPTIC,  INEBRIATE.     351 

TABLE   LXVI. 
Commitments  for  Drunkenness,  Massachusetts,  1898.* 


Number. 

Per  Cent. 

Whole  Number  of  Commitments 

Number  of  First  Commitments 

Total  Recommitments 

Number  of  Times  previously  committed  : 

1  time 

20,222 

8,994 

11,439 

2,113 

2,415 

1,524 

1,021 

816 

2,701 

689 

160 

50 

43.46 
56.54 

18.47 

21.11 

13.32 

8.92 

7.13 

23.61 

5.58 

1..38 

.43 

2  times 

3  times 

4  times 

5  times 

6  to  15  times ,     . 

16  to  30  times 

31  to  50  times 

More  than  50  times 

*  City  Document  No.  15S,  1S99,  p.  52. 

The  Advisory  Committee  urged  the  extension  of  the  pro- 
bation system  to  all  first  offenders,  and  longer  sentences 
for  the  habitual  offender.  With  these  penal  aspects  of  the 
drink  question  we  have  nothing  to  do  at  present ;  nor  is  it 
a  part  of  technical  charities  to  discuss  the  various  methods 
of  temperance  legislation  and  of  temperance  reform,  how- 
ever useful  they  may  be.  It  is  useless  to  wait  for  total 
abstinence  to  provide  a  remedy  for  habitual  drunkenness, 
although  such  agitation  has  resulted  in  making  moderate 
drinkers  more  moderate  and  many  moderates  into  teeto- 
talers. As  Dr.  Brantwaite  says,  we  are  neglecting  the 
main  source  of  the  supply  of  drunkards,  the  drunkard  him- 
self. The  charitable  problem  is  how  to  secure  earlier  con- 
trol of  the  hopeful  inebriate  and  the  sequestration  of  the 
hopeless  drunkard.  The  habitual  drunkard  will  very  rarely 
submit  himself  to  prolonged  confinement  in  a  hospital  or 
reformatory ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  unless  placed  under 


352  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

treatment  early  in  the  course  of  the  disease,  he  has  almost 
no  chance  of  permanent  cure. 

The  experience  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Hospital  at 
Foxboro  clearly  illustrates  this  point.  Of  235  patients  first 
admitted  in  1905-1906,  the  average  duration  of  inebriety 
had  been  seventeen  years,  and  in  one-third,  over  twenty 
years.  The  superintendent  classifies  these  patients  into: 
the  recent  or  curable  type,  the  chronic  who  is  not  of  evil 
repute  apart  from  his  habits  of  inebriety,  and  the  incor- 
rigible drunkard,  who  often  has  some  criminal  record.  He 
recommends  hospital  treatment  for  the  first  class,  custodial 
care  on  a  farm  where  they  may  be  partly  self-supporting 
for  the  second  class,  and  penal  commitment  for  the  third. 
He  urges  that  the  courts  should  have  discretionary  power 
in  the  case  of  those  not  of  the  chronic  or  criminal  type, 
to  commit  to  the  hospital  instead  of  a  penal  institution  for 
a  period  of  not  less  than  thirty  days.  A  new  State  law 
also  permits  voluntary  commitment. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  average  age  of  patients  was 
forty-one  years,  and  the  average  duration  of  inebriety 
seventeen  years,  the  results  at  the  Foxboro  State  Hospi- 
tal are  encouraging :  230  persons  were  discharged  between 
July  1,  1905,  and  July  1,  1906.  Their  apparent  condition 
after  Oct.  1,  1906,  was  as  follows:  temperate,  40  per  cent; 
improved  or  drinking  less,  16  per  cent;  unimproved  or 
drinking  as  before,  23.9  per  cent ;  could  not  be  found,  16 
per  cent ;  died,  3.5  per  cent. 

The  public  institutional  care  of  inebriates  has  only  just 
begun,  but  is  destined  to  increase  in  proportion  as  the  close 
interrelation  of  inebriety  with  other  neuroses  is  generally 
recognized.  The  State  of  Iowa  opened  a  hospital  in  1905 
similar  to  the  JVIassachusetts  Hospital,  and  Minnesota  in 
1907  established  a  hospital  farm  to  which  inebriates  are  to 
be  committed  on  an  indeterminate  sentence. 

Analogous  to  the  institution  for  inebriates  would  be  one 


THE  FEEBLE-MINDED,  EPILEPTIC,  INEBRIATE.     353 

where  persons  convicted  of  habitual  offences  against  chastity 
might  be  committed  for  treatment  and  especially  for  deten- 
tion. In  case  cure  or  reform,  whichever  we  choose  to  call  it, 
should  prove  to  be  impossible,  they  could  then  be  detained 
during  the  remainder  of  their  natural  lives,  working  for' 
their  own  support  in  a  colony.  New  York  has  at  present 
a  custodial  home  for  feeble-minded  women.^  Short  commit- 
ments for  this  class  of  offences  are  manifestly  as  futile  as  in 
the  case  of  habitual  drunkards.  Further  than  this,  this  class 
of  persons  are  especially  subject  to  disorders  analogous  to 
feeble-mindedness  ;  and  in  all  institutions  for  wayward  girls 
the  number  verging  upon  feeble-mindedness  is  found  to  be 
especially  large.  The  managers  of  reformatories  and  ref- 
uges for  fallen  women  frequently  complain  that  those  who 
come  to  them  need  hospital  treatment  and  prolonged  deten- 
tion, which  only  the  custodial  home  could  give. 

There  is  also  need  of  custodial  institutions  for  male 
offenders  against  chastity,  nothing  at  present  being  done, 
perhaps  because  any  treatment  with  the  present  punitive 
and  reformatory  machinery  would  be  so  manifestly  futile. 
With  proper  custodial  homes  for  persons  of  these  classes 
of  both  sexes,  we  could  begin  to  segregate  and  thereby  ster- 
ilize a  large  number  of  those  who  have  proved  themselves  by 
their  conduct  to  belong  to  the  class  of  the  unfit. 

1  The  late  Mrs.  Josephine  Shaw  Lowell  was  a  strong  advocate  of  such 
measures  during  the  whole  of  her  life  as  a  charity  worker  and  official. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 
FURTHER  DIFFERENTIATION   AND    SUMMARY. 

We  have  now  examined  the  methods  of  caring  for  most 
of  the  different  classes  of  dependents,  so  far  as  they  have 
become  distinct  enough  to  require  special  institutions  sup- 
ported in  whole  or  in  part  by  public  money.  From  the 
almshouse,  or  from  the  poor  relieved  in  their  homes,  there 
has  been  a  constant  drafting  off  of  the  specialized  classes, 
which  may  have  nearly  reached  its  culmination  in  the  older 
States,  but  which  must  be  continued  for  some  time  to  come 
wherever  the  almshouse  is  still  the  catch-all  for  the  poor  of 
the  community.  The  process  of  differentiation  during  the 
last  one  hundred  years  is  graphically  represented  by  the 
accompanying  chart  of  the  public  charities  of  the  State  of 
Indiana.  Although  the  particular  institutions  evolved  from 
outdoor  relief  and  the  almshouse  may  vary  in  the  different 
States,  a  similar  diagram  might  be  made  of  most  of  them 
with  substantially  the  same  features. 

The  almshouse  is,  as  a  rule,  the  best  place  that  public 
authorities  have  yet  provided  for  the  aged  poor  of  good 
character.  In  the  larger  cities  some  attempt  is  generally 
made  to  classify  the  aged  and  infirm  by  character  in  wards 
or  corridors,  and  recently,  in  New  York,  the  semi-able-bodied 
have  been  drafted  off  to  a  separate  institution.  For  those 
of  good  character  there  have  grown  up  in  all  centres  of 
population  a  considerable  number  of  private  homes,  usually 
managed  by  churches.  Admission  to  these  is  generally 
obtained  by  the  payment  of  a  sum  down,  which  insures 
care  during  life.  It  is  really  a  life  annuity  for  somewhat 
less  than  its  money  value.     One  hundred  to  six  hundred 

354 


Development  of  Pcblip  Ciiaiuties  in  Ind 


I 


Their  Wlvea  nnd  Orplmng 


FURTHER  DIFFERENTIATION  AND   SUMMARY.      355 

dollars  is  the  sura  charged,  and  persons  are  usually  not 
admitted  under  sixty  years  of  age.  Sometimes  the  age  limit 
is  still  higher.  Frequently  there  is  a  provision  that  per- 
sons must  be  members  of  a  particular  denomination  ;  some- 
times the  homes  are  established  for  a  particular  class,  as 
for  the  wives  of  deceased  ministers,  and  so  on.  Friends 
often  contribute  the  admission  fee  for  a  deserving  person, 
and  obtain  a  place  for  him.  Very  frequently  such  homes 
are  used  as  a  means  of  providing  a  safe  and  comfortable 
place  for  the  aged  having  a  little  property,  or  possibly  a 
pension,  who  have  no  relatives  with  whom  they  can  live, 
and  who  have  not  property  enough  to  support  them  outside 
an  institution  ;  when  well  managed,  they  furnish  a  very  satis- 
factory way  of  providing  for  the  aged  of  good  character. 

The  Catholic  Order  of  the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor 
maintains,  in  various  large  cities,  homes  for  the  aged,  to 
which  persons  are  admitted  without  regard  to  creed  or 
character,  if  only  they  are  amenable  to  the  rules  of  the 
house  after  admission.  These  homes  are  supported  en- 
tirely by  the  Sisters,  who  beg  from  door  to  door,  and  from 
office  to  office,  and  go  at  the  close  of  business  to  the  mar- 
kets and  stores  to  collect  the  refuse,  or  whatever  may  be 
given  by  the  owners;  and  who  further  collect  from  hotels, 
restaurants,  and  private  dwellings  the  broken  victuals  and 
other  material  that  can  be  used.  These  homes  are  models 
of  order,  and  the  Sisters,  most  of  whom  come  from  France, 
where  is  the  mother  house  of  the  order,  have  good  control 
of  the  very  querulous  and  often  exacting  inmates,  whom 
they  speak  of  as  "the  children." 

The  provision  for  aged  dependents  is,  however,  quite 
inadequate  to  the  demand.  The  iSTew  York  Charity  Organi- 
zation Society  reported  in  1907  that  there  were  1200  such 
persons  on  the  waiting  lists  of  existing  institutions,  and 
suggested  the  enlargement  of  these,  the  foundation  of  new 
ones,  or  a  plan  of  boarding  out  in  private  families  under 


356  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

supervision.  In  so  far  as  public  institutions  are  concerned, 
the  tendency  to  remove  the  defective  and  semi-criminal 
classes  seems  likely  to  result  in  leaving  the  almshouse  as 
a  home  for  the  aged  diseased,  the  decrepit,  and  unfortunate. 

The  very  serious  agitation  in  England  for  a  system  of 
relief  for  the  aged,  more  honorable  than  that  afforded  by 
the  poor-lavsr  authorities,  has  crystallized  about  the  idea  of 
old-age  pensions.  In  the  United  States  the  subject  has  at- 
tracted much  less  attention,  except  as  applied  to  special 
classes  such  as  soldiers  and  nurses,  firemen,  policemen, 
teachers,  railway,  and  civil  service  employees.^  California 
passed  in  1883  a  State  law  providing  that  any  institution 
maintaining  persons  over  sixty  years  of  age  should  receive 
for  each  such  person  an  annual  allowance  of  $100  per  year. 
The  law  applied  to  county  almshouses  and  other  public  in- 
stitutions, as  well  as  to  private  charities,  and  it  was,  there- 
fore, possible  for  the  county  officials  to  give  this  pension, 
the  bill  being  paid  by  the  State.  The  cost  and  the  abuse  of 
the  system  became  so  serious  that  the  law  was  repealed  in 
1895. 

On  the  side  of  medical  charities,  we  may  expect  the 
further  development  of  special  homes  for  incurables,  of 
which  there  are  now  a  considerable  number  maintained 
by  private  benevolence.  The  abnshouse  is  still  about  the 
only  home  for  incurables  which  the  public  maintains, 
though  private  institutions  of  the  kind  are  sometimes  sub- 
sidized. Another  subdivision  in  medical  charities,  follow- 
ing European  example,  will  doubtless  be  special  hospitals 
for  the  treatment  of  venereal  diseases. 

Hospitals  for  children  and  maternity  hospitals,  now 
maintained  chiefly  by  private  benevolence  and  in  connec- 
tion with  medical  schools,  will  probably  keep  pace  with  the 
growth  of  population,  partly  because  of  the  appeal  which 
they  make  to  natural  sympathy,  and  partly  because  of  their 
1  Butler,  N.  C.  C,  1906,  p.  470  £f. ;  statistics,  etc.,  p.  612  ff. 


FURTHER  DIFFERENTIATION  AND   SUMMARY.     357 

special  interest  for  medical  students.  The  development  of 
convalescent  homes  and  of  the  work  of  the  visiting  nurse 
should  be  rapidly  extended,  and  the  provision  of  both  pub- 
lic and  private  sanatoria  for  tuberculous  patients  —  as  yet 
only  just  begun  —  with  a  capacity  sufficient  to  meet  the 
demand  is  of  all  recent  charity  movements  the  most  im- 
portant. 

No  consideration  was  given  to  institutions  for  the  blind, 
deaf,  and  dumb  in  the  chapter  on  the  Defective  Classes,  be- 
cause they  are  usually  classed  with  the  educational  institu- 
tions of  the  State.  But  in  so  far  as  charitable  assistance  is 
necessary  to  keep  such  children  in  special  schools,  they  are 
comparable  with  similar  provisions  for  the  epileptic  and 
feeble-minded.  There  were  in  the  115  schools  and  homes  for 
the  deaf  and  blind  in  the  United  States  on  Dec.  31,  1904, 
14,731  persons.  Of  the  total  cost  of  maintenance  — 
$3,523,683  —  65  per  cent  was  expended  by  public  insti- 
tutions. Of  these  115  institutions,  eleven  were  for  adults 
solely,  and  all  but  two  of  the  eleven  were  maintained  by 
private  charity.  A  considerable  number  of  the  state  schools 
for  children  have  some  provision  also  for  adults.^  As 
begging  on  the  street  is  less  and  less  tolerated,  the  un- 
trained indigent  blind  are  deprived  of  almost  their  sole 
means  of  livelihood.  The  task  of  training  the  indigent  blind 
and  deaf  to  handicrafts  in  childhood  seems  to  be  relegated 
to  the  State ;  but  to  find  homes  or  remunerative  employment 
for  the  adult  seems  likely  to  be  left  to  private  charity.^ 

Most  of  the  classes  of  which  we  have  treated  in  Part  II. 
are  fully  dependent,  and  many  of  them  are  chronic  cases. 
Except  among  dependent  children  and  the  temporarily  sick, 
the  cure  of  dependency  is  the  exception  rather  than  the 
rule.  There  is,  however,  throughout  the  whole  country,  and 
especially  in  the  large  cities,  a  vast  amount  of  relief  work 

1  Census,  "  Benevolent  Institutions,"  190i. 

2  Henderson,  "  Dependents,"  etc.,  p.  169  ff. 


358  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

done  by  individuals,  churches,  and  benevolent  organizations 
which  has  for  its  particular  purpose  the  saving  of  individuals 
and  families  from  crossing  the  pauper  line.  Most  of  the 
work  of  the  charity  organization  societies  comes  under  this 
head.  It  is  dealing  with  incipient  dependency,  attempting 
to  treat  the  cases  at  an  early  stage  of  development  so  that 
they  may  not  become  chronic.  Different  individuals  dealt 
with  may  belong  to  any  of  the  classes  for  which  special  pro- 
vision is  now  made,  but  at  the  critical  time  of  their  experi- 
ence it  is  sought  to  give  them  aid  that  will  save  them  from 
dependency.  The  work  of  private  charities  and  of  charity 
organization  societies  will  be  discussed  in  Part  III.  and 
Part  IV. 

Within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  there  has  grown  up 
a  large  number  of  preventive,  constructive,  and  reformatory 
agencies  which  are  as  truly  benevolent  as  those  we  have 
already  discussed,  but  which  are  not  classified  under  the 
head  of  technical  charities  because  they  do  not  give  direct 
material  and  institutional  relief.  The  Charities  Directory 
of  each  cit}'"  contains  a  section  devoted  to  such  societies  : 
societies  for  thrift,  loans,  and  insurance ;  trade  and  indus- 
trial schools,  schools  for  training  immigrants  in  adaptation 
and  assimilation  ;  agencies  for  distributing  immigrants  ;  for 
the  betterment  of  social  conditions ;  for  legal  aid  and  pro- 
tection ;  and,  most  important  of  all,  settlements  for  every 
kind  of  neighborly  cooperation.  While  there  must  neces- 
sarily be  a  limit  to  any  discussion  of  technical  charities,  it 
is  impossible  to  say  where  the  field  of  charity  ends  and  the 
field  of  social  betterment  begins;  and  in  proportion  as  char- 
itable agencies  develop  the  preventive  and  constructive 
aspects  of  their  work,  the  line  of  demarcation  will  be  ob- 
literated. 

The  differentiation  and  classification  which  have  been  the 
characteristic  tendencies  of  all  recent  charity  have  brought 
to  light  more  and  more  the  need  of  improvements  in  our 


FURTHER  DIFFERENTIATION  AND   SUMMARY.     359 

judicial  and  punitive  machinery.  An  insufficient  police  de- 
partment and  vulgar,  corrupt,  and  ignorant  police  courts  are 
the  greatest  hindrances  that  an  active  worker  for  the  poor 
in  many  cities  has  to  meet.  No  constructive  work  for  the 
poor  can  be  satisfactorily  carried  through  until  the  system 
of  lower  courts,  jails,  and  police  procedure  is  reformed. 

On  reviewing  what  has  been  said  regarding  the  dependent 
classes,  we  find  that  from  the  primitive  institution,  the  alms- 
house hospital,  or  the  hospital  almshouse,  there  have  de- 
veloped a  dozen  or  more  special  institutions  for  the  care  of 
the  different  classes  of  unfortunates.  It  is  differentiation  and 
intergradation  analogous  to  that  which  has  gone  on  in  modern 
industry.  If  extended  classification  has  resulted  simply  in  a 
herding  together  of  a  large  number  of  similarly  defective  per- 
sons who  are  treated  as  a  class,  fed  as  a  class,  drugged  as  a  class, 
buried  as  a  class,  we  have  a  specialization  which  eliminates 
human  sympathy,  and  makes  charity  something  mechanical 
and  uncharitable.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  fuller  classification 
has  resulted  in  the  fuller  individualization  of  cases  and  the 
adaptation  to  each  of  the  best  agencies  of  modern  science 
and  modern  sympathy  for  care  and  cure,  then  the  develop- 
ment has  been  one  not  only  toward  wiser  sympathy,  but 
deeper  sympathy,  and  has  prepared  the  way  for  a  fuller 
development  of  the  changes  alread}'  in  progress.  In  other 
words,  our  modern  highly  differentiated  methods  of  treating 
the  dependent  classes  bring  with  them  a  possibility,  but  not 
a  guaranty,  of  better  service. 

In  the  discussion  of  each  dependent  class,  the  final  empha- 
sis has  been  laid  upon  prevention.  Each  specialist  has  in 
turn  reiterated  it :  the  family  on  the  verge  of  dependence 
must  be  restored,  not  broken  up  ;  the  homeless  child  must 
be  grafted  into  new  family  relations  ;  the  man  out  of  work 
must  not  be  permitted  to  become  unemployable ;  the  poor 
must  be  protected  from  contagion  and  bad  sanitation  that 
they  may  not  be  sick;   the  weak  and  defective  must   be 


360  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

shielded  from  the  world  that  there  may  be  fewer  weak  in 
the  time  to  come ;  and  the  unfit  must  no  longer  be  allowed 
to  reproduce  their  kind.  If  the  first  word  of  modern  charity 
is :  help  every  man  promptly,  intelligently,  adequately,  ac- 
cording to  his  individual  need,  the  last  is :  prevent  his 
children  from  falling  into  need. 


PART   III. 

ADMINISTRATION  AND  FINANCIERING. 


PAET   III. 
ADMINISTRATION   AND   FINANCIERING- 


CHAPTER   XIV. 
PUBLIC   CHARITIES. 

By  "  charities,"  as  the  term  is  used  in  the  title  of  this  chap- 
ter and  in  this  voh;me,  are  meant  all  those  institutions  and 
agencies  which  give  direct  material  aid  to  the  poor  as  such. 
This  leaves  out  of  view  all  purely  educational  institutions, 
because  the  aid  given  is  not  material.  According  to  English 
usage  and  according  to  legal  usage  in  this  country,  an  edu- 
cational institution,  unless  supported  by  the  fees  of  the  pupils, 
is  a  "charity."  The  prominent  American  svho  asserted  that 
a  free  soup-house  and  a  free  school  are  based  upon  the  same 
principle,  was  wrong,  because  there  are  dangers  inherent  in 
the  gifts  of  free  food  which  do  not  inhere  in  the  gift  of  free 
education.  Benevolence  may  set  aside  the  rule  that  if  a 
man  will  not  work,  neither  shall  he  eat ;  but  not  the  rule  that 
if  a  man  will  not  study,  neither  shall  he  learn.  The  bene- 
ficiary can  get  no  advantage  without  personal  effort  from  free 
tuition ;  he  is,  therefore,  not  exposed  in  the  same  way  as  is 
the  recipient  of  material  relief  to  the  danger  of  degradation. 

In  educational  institutions  for  the  defective  classes, 
material  relief,  free  boarding,  and  lodging  is  given  to  the 
pupils  not  able  to  pay,  along  with  free  tuition.  This,  in 
our  opinion,  makes  such  institutions  charities  to  a  certain 
extent,  although  they  protest  against  being  so  classed,  and 
wish  to  be  considered  purely  educational.  For  adminis- 
strative  reasons,  the  supervision  of  them  is  usually   given 

363 


364  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

to  the  State  Board  of  Charities ;  but  the  educational  element 
in  their  work  so  far  overshadows  the  relief-giving  element 
that  they  have  only  been  incidentally  referred  to  in  this 
book. 

The  definition  of  charities  given,  while  a  little  broader 
than  some  would  wish  it,  is  narrower  than  the  general  ap- 
plication of  the  term.  For  instance,  strictly  taken,  it  would 
exclude  institutions  for  the  care  of  the  insane,  where,  as  in 
Minnesota,  any  citizen  is  entitled  to  gratuitous  treatment  and 
care,  irrespective  of  ability  to  pay.  In  such  a  case  the  poor 
are  given  direct  material  relief  in  the  form  of  board  and 
lodging  and  medicine,  but  they  do  not  receive  it  as  being 
indigent.  The  State  relieves  the  insane  as  insane,  not  as 
poor.  The  same  would  apply  to  hospitals  such  as  those 
recommended  by  Havelock  Ellis,  maintained  for.  the  treat- 
ment of  all  disease  at  the  expense  of  the  State.  It  applies, 
too,  to  those  institutions  for  defectives  in  which  tuition,  in- 
cluding board  and  lodging,  is  absolutely  free  to  all  comers 
irrespective  of  ability  to  pay.  But  still  it  may  be  said  that, 
whether  ostensibly  or  not,  it  is  the  desire  to  relieve  the  poor 
that  primarily  influences  legislation  of  this  sort.  Although 
the  poor  are  not  nominally  relieved  as  such,  yet  in  fact  they 
are  so,  since  they  make  up  a  very  large  proportion  of  those 
receiving  gratuitous  treatment.  In  other  words,  the  chari- 
table element  in  the  institution  has  not  been  eliminated  by 
being  hidden,  and  the  need  of  insisting  upon  this  is  that  the 
dangers  of  direct  material  relief  are  not  eliminated  either. 
Those  institutions  that  give  board  and  lodging  and  all  the 
care  that  this  implies  to  their  beneficiaries  must  be  classed, 
for  administrative  purposes  at  least,  as  charities,  and  are 
so  considered  in  the  present  volume. 

By  "public  charities"  is  meant  those  institutions  or 
agencies  which  are  entirely  controlled  by  the  State  in  any 
of  its  branches,  federal,  State,  county,  township,  or  munici- 
pality.    The  distinction  is  a  legal  one,  and   is   perfectly 


PUBLIC  CHARITIES.  365 

simple.  A  public  corporation  is  one  existing  under  the 
authority  of  the  State,  and  which  the  State  can  modify 
or  abolish  at  will.  Frequently  great  private  charities,  as 
Girard  College  or  the  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital,  are  spoken 
of  as  quasi-public  institutions.  They  serve  the  public  in- 
deed, and  the  wealth  which  they  administer  might  be  con- 
sidered as  affected  by  a  public  use  in  the  same  sense  as  /^' 
wealth  owned  by  a  railroad  company ;  but  their  charters  are 
contracts  with  the  State  and  cannot  be  arbitrarily  modified 
by  it.  By  "  public  funds  "  are  meant  such  funds  as  are  de4  ' 
rived  from  the  revenues  of  the  State  in  any  of  its  branches.} 
They  are  usually  the  proceeds  of  taxation.^ 

There  have  been  many  searches  for  the  principle  upon 
which  the  State  has  acted  and  should  act  in  taking  upon 
itself  work  for  the  relief  of  the  poor.  In  Europe,  the 
Teutonic  countries  have  usually  guaranteed  relief  to  all 
citizens,  while  the  Latin  countries  have  not  done  so ;  and 
yet  this  fundamental  difference  is  not  shown  in  any  very 
great  differences  in  the  character  of  their  relief-work.  Those 
who  have  argued  that  to  guarantee  relief  was  fatal  to  the 
independence  of  a  people,  and  would  induce  all  to  become 
paupers,  have  been  shown  that  under  proper  administration 
this  is  not  true ;  since  the  condition  of  the  pauper,  while  he 
may  be  saved  from  starvation,  can  be  made  very  much  less 
agreeable  than  that  of  the  independent  workman. 

Cunningham  attributes  the  changing  character  of  poor  re- 
lief in  modern  times  to  the  tendency  of  duties  as  they  become 
common  to  become  secularized ;  in  proportion  as  the  necessity 
and  convenience  of  certain  forms  of  relief  are  recognized, 
they  are  provided  as  a  matter  of  course  out  of  public  taxa- 
tion, thus  leaving  the  philanthropist  free  to  find  new  paths 

1  Alexander  Johnson,  in  his  article  on  "  Some  Incidentals  of  Quasi-public 
Charities,"  uses  the  term  "public"  in  a  sense  somewhat  diiferent  from 
that  outlined  for  use  in  the  text.  There  is  one  clear  distinction  between 
public  and  private  institutions  which  can  be  made  and  ought  continuously 
to  be  made. 


366  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

by  which  he  may  benefit  his  fellow-men.^  In  this  country 
the  principle  that  underlies  the  assumption  of  relief-work 
by  the  State  seems  to  be  this  :  whenever  a  community  has 
been  educated  up  to  such  a  point  that  it  insists  on  a  large 
amount  of  relief-work  being  done,  and  when  the  methods  of 
doing  it  have  been  reduced  to  a  routine,  then  the  State  is 
asked  to  undertake  the  work,  and  relieve  private  benevolence 
of  the  burden.  This  we  have  seen  in  the  care  of  the  insane, 
the  education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  and  the  blind,  and  the 
education  of  the  feeble-minded.  In  the  matter  of  caring 
for  the  epileptic  and  inebriate,  it  is  only  now  becoming 
clear  that  the  time  has  come  for  the  State  to  take  hold.  Ee- 
lief-work  is  adapted  to  administration  by  the  State  not  only 
in  proportion  as  it  can  be  reduced  to  a  routine,  but  in  pro- 
portion as  it  requires  very  large  expenditures  for  a  consider- 
able class  to  which  all  taxpayers  can  properly  be  asked  to 
contribute.  The  State  is  not  inventive,  its  agencies  are  not 
adaptable  and  inflexible ;  but  it  is  capable  of  doing  a  large, 
expensive  work  when  the  methods  for  doing  it  are  suffi- 
ciently elaborated.  The  administration  of  outdoor  relief  is 
dangerous  for  the  State  to  undertake,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  it  never  can  be  reduced  to  a  routine. 

The  advantages  of  public  support  for  charitable  institu- 
tions are  Brieffy  as  follows :  — 

1.  The  income  can  be  absolutely  depended  upon,  and 
may  be  made  adequate.  During  an  industrial  depression 
there  is  no  shrinking  of  revenue,  as  is  sometimes  the  case 
in  private  charities,  and  an  amount  adequate  to  the  work 
may  always  be  reckoned  upon. 

2.  There  is  greater  publicity  in  a  public  institution.  The 
records  will  ordinarily  be  fuller  and  more  open  to  inspection. 
The  press  is  freer  to  expose  abuses.  The  checks  of  public 
opinion  are  consequently  more  easily  applied.  The  whole 
aim  and  purpose  of  a  public  institution  may  be  modified 

1  "  History  of  English  Industry,"  etc.,  Modern  Times,  p.  665. 


PUBLIC  CHARITIES.  367 

whenever  the  people  of  a  community  see  that  modification 
is  desirable.  While  not  flexible  in  little  things,  —  the  small 
points  of  administration,  —  a  system  of  public  charities  is 
frequently  more  susceptible  of  large  adaptation  than  a  sys- 
tem supported  by  endowments  and  private  contributions. 

3.  Under  a  just  system  of  taxation  all  persons  are  com- 
pelled to  contribute  according  to  their  ability.  The  stingy 
man  is  not  allowed  to  thrive  at  the  expense  of  his  benevolent 
neighbor.  The  law  is  primarily  an  agency  for  bringing  up 
the  laggards  in  the  march  of  progress  ;  and  when  the  com- 
munity on  the  average  wants  benevolent  work  done,  this  is 
the  method  of  pushing  forward  those  who  hang  back. 

The  chief  disadvantages  of  public  charity  are  the  follow- 
ing:— 

1.  It  is  necessarily  more  impersonal  and  mechanical  than 
private  charity  or  individual  action.  There  is  less  kindness 
on  the  part  of  the  giver,  and  less  gratitude  on  the  part  of  the 
receiver;  and  yet  many  cases  occur  where  those  who  have 
received  aid  from  the  State  have  done  so  Avith  thankfulness 
and  with  a  feeling  of  gratitude  to  the  community  as  a  whole 
for  providing  the  means  of  relief. 

2.  There  is  some  tendency  to  claim  public  relief  as  a 
right,  and  for  the  indolent  and  incapable  to  throw  them- 
selves flat  upon  it.  This  feeling  will  always  assert  itself 
whenever  it  is  given  an  opportunity  to  do  so.  But  it  can 
be  checked  by  making  the  pauper  somewhat  less  comfort- 
able than  the  man  who  is  self-dependent. 

3.  In  public  charities,  officialism  is  even  more  pronounced 
than  under  private  management.  The  degradation  of 
character  of  the  man  on  a  salary  set  to  the  work  of  reliev- 
ing the  poor  is  one  of  the  most  discouraging  things  in  con- 
nection with  relief-work,  and  it  may  be  that  public  officials 
are  especially  likely  to  become  hard  and  unsympathetic. 

4.  It  is  possible  to  do  so  much  relief-work  that,  while 
one  set  of  persons  is  relieved,  another  will  be  taxed  across 


368  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

the  pauper  line.  Our  own  expenditures  for  charitable  in- 
stitutions have  seldom  reached  the  sums  that  make  it 
possible  to  demonstrate  the  connection  between  the  diffi- 
culties falling  to  the  lot  of  the  struggling,  self-dependent 
members  of  the  community  and  the  increase  of  taxation  for 
the  benefit  of  the  destitute.  But  under  our  chaotic  system 
of  taxation  it  is  usually  true  that  the  burden  of  supporting 
the  State  tends  to  diffuse  itself  along  the  lines  of  the  least 
resistance  ;  consequently,  money  which  is  raised  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor  may  come  out  of  pockets  that  can  ill 
spare  it. 

5.  The  final  disadvantage  of  public  institutions  for 
the  relief  of  destitution  is  the  weightiest,  at  least  in  the 
United  States.  The  disadvantage  referred  to  is  that  the 
blight  of  partisan  politics  and  gratuitously  awkward  ad- 
ministration often  falls  upon  the  work.  City  and  county 
politics  seem  to  degrade  public  charities  even  more  than 
other  branches  of  the  local  administration.  Charitable  institu- 
tions are  spoils  of  an  insignificant  character,  thrown  frequently 
to  the  less  deserving  among  the  henchmen  of  the  successful 
political  bosses.  The  managing  boards  of  the  hospital  and 
almshouse  are  not  content  with  appointing  the  superinten- 
dent, and  leaving  the  responsibility  of  minor  appointments  to 
him,  but  make  a  complete  list  of  employees,  and  force  the 
superintendent  to  accept  them. 

To  supply  their  political  supporters  with  places  in  insti- 
tutions, is  not  the  only  motive  actuating  politicians  who 
cling  to  the  "  spoils"  of  public  charities.  In  the  larger  in- 
stitutions the  contracts  for  supplies  involve  large  expendi- 
tures on  which  the  favored  contractors  expect  to  make  a 
high  percentage.  The  placing  of  supply  contracts  affords 
an  opportunity  for  the  boss  to  throw  business  in  the  way  of 
friends.  There  are  many  historic  instances  of  political  in- 
terference with  the  management  of  State  institutions  :  poli- 
tics abolished  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Reform  in 


PUBLIC  CHARITIES.  369 

Wisconsin,  and  substituted  the  Board  of  Control  with 
salaries  for  all  members  ;  in  1891  the  Michigan  School  for 
Dependent  Children  was  deprived  of  its  board  of  control 
and  placed  with  other  institutions  under  a  board  of  a  dif- 
ferent political  complexion ;  the  Blockley  (Philadelphia) 
Almshouse  exposure  of  1881-1882  of  a  death-rate  of  15  per 
cent  and  the  embezzlement  of  $150,000  of  the  appropria- 
tions by  the  superintendent ;  the  scandal  of  the  management 
of  the  Indiana  Hospital  for  the  Insane  in  1887,  where  brutal 
treatment  of  patients  and  supplies  far  below  the  contract 
standard  were  the  principal  features ;  the  removal  on  false 
charges  of  mismanagement  and  the  secret  trial  of  the  super- 
intendent and  matron  of  the  City  and  County  Almshouse  of 
San  Francisco  in  1897,  and  of  the  superintendent  of  the 
School  for  the  Feeble-minded  in  California,  —  all  these  and 
many  more  might  be  cited  as  the  fruits  of  the  partisan 
system. 

In  recent  years,  Illinois  and  New  York  have  furnished 
conspicuous  illustrations.  In  1901  Governor  Yates  of  Illi- 
nois forced  upon  the  State  Board  of  Charities  his  own  ap- 
pointee as  secretary,  although  the  law  was  explicit  in  its 
provision  that  the  Board  should  independently  select  its 
employees,  and  although  the  appointee  had  no  experience  in 
philanthropic  administration.  Two  of  the  most  competent 
members  of  the  Board  resigned,  as  a  protest  against  using 
public  charitable  institutions  for  party  ends.^  Governor 
Odell,  during  his  term  of  office,  made  revolutionary  changes 
in  the  administration  of  the  hospitals  for  the  insane  in 
New  York  and  interfered  with  their  internal  affairs.  The 
supervision  and  control  of  each  State  hospital  had  been  in 
the  hands  of  a  local,  unsalaried  board  of  managers  appointed 
by  the  Governor  and  under  the  supervision  of  the  State 
Commission  in  Lunacy.  The  State  was  thus  receiving  the 
unpaid  services  of  nearly  a  hundred  "  honor "  officers  who 
1  Charities,  vol.  vii.,  1901,  pp.  150,  152-155;  vol.  viii.,  pp.  532-537. 


370  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

kept  in  close  touch  with  the  needs  of  the  patients,  and 
served  as  a  check  on  supply  contracts.  By  the  Odell  Lunacy 
Bill,  as  it  was  called,  these  boards  were  done  away  with, 
all  the  power  concentrated  in  the  Lunacy  Commission  at 
the  Capitol,  who  were  political  appointees  of  the  Governor, 
and  who  could  do  almost  nothing  of  importance  without 
the  approval  of  the  Governor.  The  welfare  of  23,000 
insane  persons  and  the  expenditure  of  nearly  $5,000,000 
was  thus  transferred  directly  to  the  centralized  political 
Commission  at  Albany.  The  justification  offered  for  this 
procedure  was  "  economy,"  but  it  subsequently  appeared 
that  it  had  been  inaugurated  for  campaign  purposes  and  that 
the  saving  was  accomplished  by  reducing  the  clothes  allow- 
ance of  patients,  by  overcrowding  them  in  large  buildings 
instead  of  providing  more  cottages  for  proper  classification, 
by  reducing  the  number  of  attendants,  and  finally  by  act- 
ually reducing  the  food  allowance  of  inmates  below  the 
physiological  requirements.  The  result  of  Governor  Odell's 
action  was  to  rouse  all  classes  of  philanthropic  workers; 
and  in  the  following  political  campaign,  non-partisan  man- 
agement of  State  charitable  institutions  became  a  political 
issue,  and  both  candidates  for  governor  were  compelled  to 
put  themselves  squarely  on  record  in  favor  of  the  merit 
system. 

The  application  of  the  civil  service  system  to  minor  posi- 
tions has  progressed  rapidly  in  recent  years ;  and  although 
there  is  still  much  difference  of  opinion  among  authorities 
as  to  its  applicability  to  higher  positions,  the  public  is  being 
educated  to  demand  that  all  such  appointments  shall  be 
made  on  the  ground  of  fitness. 

The  administration  of  charities  both  here  and  abroad  has 
been  very  greatly  improved  by  the  extension  of  the  system 
of  honor  offices,  in  which  no  salary  is  paid  the  incumbent. 
The  most  efficient  of  the  State  Boards  of  Charity  have 
members  holding  by  this  tenure.     Where  there  are  special 


PUBLIC  CHARITIES.  371 

boards  for  local  hospitals,  almshouses,  and  other  institutions, 
the  directors  are  frequently  of  this  class.  The  danger  that 
these  boards,  whose  principal  function  is  to  select  the 
salaried  superintendent  of  the  institutions  over  which  they 
have  control,  or,  in  the  case  of  State  boards,  a  salaried  sec- 
retary, will  degenerate  into  mere  engines  of  the  political 
boss,  to  be  used  by  him  in  the  distribution  of  spoils,  is  much 
less  with  unsalaried  than  with  salaried  boards;  and  tlieir 
further  functions  of  supervision  and  advisory  interference 
with  the  management  are  usually  more  developed  when 
the  members  receive  no  salary.  It  is  generally  found  possi- 
ble to  secure  for  such  service  some  of  the  best  citizens  in 
the  community ;  and,  where  it  is  possible,  it  is  usually 
better  that  men  and  women  should  serve  jointly.  Appoint- 
ment seems,  as  a  rule,  to  secure  better  members  than  elec- 
tion. The  term  of  office  should  be  of  considerable  length, 
the  members  going  out  in  rotation. 

Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody,  as  early  as  1893,  and  Frederick 
Almy  again  in  1904,  urged  the  employment  of  unpaid  boards 
and  volunteer  visitors  by  public  officials  in  behalf  of  public 
institutions.^  The  compulsory  drafting  of  citizens  into 
public  charity  service,  as  is  done  in  Germany  and  other  parts 
of  Europe  under  the  Elberfeld  plan,  may  have  many  features 
not  adaptable  to  American  conditions,  but-  the  principle  is 
nevertheless  most  valuable.  Massachusetts  already  makes 
use  of  auxiliary  unpaid  visitors  for  the  care  of  girls  placed 
in  families  ;  ^  in  New  York  the  after-care  of  the  insane  has 
been  organized  by  volunteer  service,  and  in  New  York  City 
the  Department  of  Public  Charities  has  made  frequent  use 
of  the  unpaid  service  of  workers  trained  in  private  charities. 
But  nowhere  has  any  such  extensive  and  systematic  use 
been  made  of  unpaid  almoners  as  in  German  cities,  where 
the  districts  are  so  small  that  not  more  than  four  paupers 
are  in  the  care  of  one  almoner.     The  development  of  friendly 

1  Almy,  N.  C.  C,  1904,  pp.  113  ff.        2  Codman,  N.  C.  C,  1904,  pp.  126  ff. 


372  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

visiting  by  the  American  Charity  Organization  Societies  is 
unquestionably  leading  in  this  direction ;  and  it  is  to  be 
anticipated  that  public  charities  will  soon  avail  themselves 
systematically  of  unsalaried  agents  for  certain  duties. 
Such  service  is,  indeed,  difficult  to  secure  and  to  train,  and 
often  proves  unreliable,  but  should  be  utilized  because 
of  the  almost  prohibitive  cost  of  maintaining  the  ideal 
standard  of  administration,  and  perhaps,  as  a  minor  end, 
for  the  education  of  the  public  itself  in  those  ideals. 

In  each  commonwealth  the  fabric  of  the  public  charitable 
institutions  rests  upon  the  quicksands  of  the  poor-law,  which 
few  study  and  fewer  understand.  It  was  said  of  the  Eng- 
lish poor-law,  by  the  commission  appointed  to  investigate  its 
workings,  that  there  was  scarcely  one  statute  connected  with 
the  administration  of  poor-relief  which  had  produced  the 
effect  designed  by  the  legislature,  and  that  the  majority  of 
them  had  created  new  evils  and  aggravated  those  which  they 
were  intended  to  prevent.  The  same  is  substantially  true 
in  many  of  our  own  States,  and  especially  in  the  older  com- 
monwealths, such  as  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  where 
the  legislatures  have  not  been  careful  to  repeal  existing 
legislation  when  enacting  new  laws.  The  result  is  a  tangle 
of  statutes,  which  cannot  be  rationally  interpreted  because 
they  have  no  rational  basis.  The  courts  construe  them  from 
time  to  time,  because  they  must,  and  not  because  they  know 
how.  The  fact  that,  after  years  of  giving  outdoor  relief  in 
Brooklyn,  the  whole  system  was  decided  to  be  illegal,  shows 
the  unsubstantial  nature  of  the  foundation  upon  which  our 
system  of  poor-relief  sometimes  rests. 

In  the  Eastern  States,  particularly  in  Massachusetts,  the 
laws  of  settlement  were  formerly  very  complicated,  and 
there  grew  up  a  class  with  no  claim  to  public  relief,  com- 
prising half  the  population  of  the  State,  and  a  great  body 
of  legal  decisions  on  questions  of  settlement.  The  State 
Board  of  Charities  succeeded  in  getting  these  laws  modified 


PUBLIC  CHARITIES.  373 

SO  that  only  one-fifth  were  non-settled  residents.  Outside 
of  New  England  there  are  no  inheritable  settlements;  resi- 
dence, usually  of  one  year,  but  in  the  newer  States  of  only 
six  months,  determines  the  right  to  pviblic  relief,  and  in 
the  Western  States  even  this  law  is  not  observed. 

A  dependent  passes  from  township  to  township,  from 
county  to  county,  and  from  State  to  State,  expecting  to  be 
relieved  wherever  he  happens  to  need  relief.  The  loose- 
ness of  the  San  Francisco  almshouse,  which  has  received  a 
Canadian  pauper  direct  from  the  vessel  on  which  he  came 
to  the  State,  appears  to  be  carrying  the  matter  too  far ;  but 
the  alternative  is  not  a  return  to  a  system  of  settlement 
laws  like  those  formerly  obtaining  in  Massachusetts.  A 
well-administered  system  of  charities  —  that  is,  a  system 
which  aims  at  cure  as  well  as  relief,  and  which  succeeds  in 
making  the  condition  of  the  willing  pauper  much  less  satis- 
factory than  that  of  the  self-dependent  man  —  will  probably 
not  attract  people  from  any  great  distance.  The  cure  for 
migration  is  in  the  proper  administration  of  local  charities, 
even  in  the  case  of  the  foisting  of  dependents  upon  one 
political  unit  by  another. 

As  between  States,  the  evil  may  be  regulated  by  uniform 
settlement  laws  and  some  form  of  arbitration  in  disputed 
cases.  The  laws  should  be  as  nearly  uniform  as  possible  as 
to  the  length  of  time  necessary  to  establish  residence,  and 
as  to  the  return  of  non-residents  to  their  place  of  legal  set- 
tlement ;  and  the  power  of  arbitration  may  be  lodged  in  any 
suitable  State  board,  preferably  in  a  State  board  of  chari- 
ties.^ On  the  Pacific  coast  the  migration  of  dependents  is 
being  regulated  with  the  assistance  of  the  railway  compa- 
nies. In  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles,  California,  and  in 
Phoenix,  Arizona,  —  terminal  points  to  which  tramps  and 
indigents  are  most  apt  to  migrate,  —  the  railway  companies 
have  placed  the  granting  of  all  charity  rates  in  the  hands 
1  N.  C.  C,  1899,  pp.  153  ff.,  gives  a  proposed  uniform  law. 


374  AMERICAN  CHABITIES. 

of  the  Associated  Charities.  The  international  migration  of 
paupers  from  Europe  to  America  is  now  controlled  by  fed- 
eral law,  with  the  result  that  the  relief  problems  incidental 
to  immigration  have  been  much  diminished.^ 

One  of  the  most  striking  tendencies  in  public  charities 
at  the  present  time  is  the  centralization  of  administration. 
It  has  grown  partly  out  of  the  closer  relation  of  commu- 
nities to  each  other  and  partly  from  the  fact  that  local 
institutions  are  more  "  in  politics  "  and  less  well  adminis- 
tered than  State  institutions.^  In  proportion  as  trained 
service  and  classification  of  dependents  have  been  recog- 
nized as  important,  and  as  the  merit  system  of  appointments 
to  office  has  gained  acceptance,  concentration  of  administra- 
tion is  seen  to  be  essential. 

Mr.  Homer  Folks,  as  the  result  of  his  experience  as  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Charities  in  New  York  City,  said:  — 

"We  have,  partly  by  tradition  and  partly  by  personal  conviction, 
come  to  regard  public  institutions  as  being  in  the  main,  and  generally 
speaking,  inadequately  supported,  impersonal,  and  inelastic,  unfit  for 
experimentation  and  impervious  to  criticism." 

Mr.  Folks  then  shows  that  officials  in  charge  of  public 
charities  must  constantly  compete  with  other  powerful  in- 
terests in  obtaining  appropriations,  but  that  with  proper 
backing  from  private  citizens,  adequate  funds  may  be 
secured  because  no  jDolitical  party  dare  go  to  the  polls 
with  a  record  of  insufficient  care  of  the  poor.  In  the 
matter  of  employees  for  public  institutions,  wherever  it  is 
in  the  hands  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  it  is  success- 
ful in  preventing  partisan  removals ;  but  in  providing  an 
eligible  list  it  is  unsatisfactory  chiefly  because  the  exami- 
nations are  not  prepared  and  carried  out  by  men  who  have 

1  On  the  relief  problem  as  affected  by  immigration,  see  Charities, 
vol.  xii.,  1904,  special  number  6. 

2  Committee  Report,  N.  C.  C,  1902,  pp.  127  if.;  Fox,  N.  C.  C,  1900, 
pp.  lOG  ff. 


PUBLIC  CHARITIES.  375 

had  experience  in  the  work  to  be  done.  According  to  Mr. 
Folks,  one  of  the  chief  difficulties  of  administration  is  the 
getting  rid  of  incompetent  employees,  because  the  holding  of 
such  a  position  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  sort  of  vested  right. 

That  public  institutions  are  impersonal  and  inelastic  is 
frequently  true ;  but  not  because  they  are  public,  —  rather 
because  they  are  big  and  have  not  been  equipped  with 
skilled  service  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  the  inmates. 
Precisely  the  same  complaint  is  justly  made  of  great  uni- 
versities. Mr.  Folks  regards  public  institutions  as  well 
adapted  for  social  experimentation,  and  cites  the  introduction 
of  ti-ained  dietitians  into  public  hospitals  and  social  sec- 
retaries into  hospitals  for  consumptives  as  successful  ex- 
periments. Finally  he  shows  that  a  public  official  cannot 
afford  to  resent  criticism  because  the  newspapers  like  the 
sensation  and  the  public  is  ready  to  believe  any  charge 
of  inefficiency.  This  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  most  hopeful 
things  about  public  institutions ;  for  public  opinion,  if 
rightfully  handled,  can  control  their  administration.^ 

The  essential  principles  by  which  public  charities  should 
be  administered  may  then  be  briefly  summed  up :  they  must 
be  free  from  partisan  influence  and  at  the  same  time  strictly 
accountable  to  State  authority ;  the  best-trained  ability 
should  be  engaged  in  their  management,  supplemented  by 
the  finest  unsalaried  service  the  community  affords;  and 
they  should,  above  all,  be  sustained  by  an  intelligent  public 
interest.  Miss  Julia  C.  Lathrop  attributes  the  sustained 
excellence  of  the  management  of  public  charities  in  Massa- 
chusetts to  the  long  roster  of  persons  of  distinguished 
ability  devoting  themselves  to  humanitarian  effort;  and 
quotes,  as  an  example  of  what  may  be  done,  the  Cook 
County  (Illinois)  Insane  Asylum,  which  has  been  lifted 
from  inefficiency  to  the  highest  standard  by  the  power  of 
public  opinion.^ 

1  Folks,  N.  C.  C,  1904,  pp.  134  ff,     2  N.  C  C,  1905,  pp.  420  ff. 


376  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

The  enormous  expense  of  elaborate  State  institutions  has 
already  driven  officials  to  consider  methods  of  economy  in 
their  administration.  With  the  elimination  of  wasteful 
partisan  influence  and  the  employment  of  trained  experts, 
the  supplies  will  be  more  carefully  bought  and  more  eco- 
nomically used.  The  committee  on  hospital  deficits  in 
New  York  City  at  once  discovered  an  enormous  leakage 
in  this  direction  ;  and  the  employment  of  such  a  dietary 
expert  as  Professor  Atwater  to  set  a  proper  food  standard 
for  the  insane  hospitals  in  New  York  State  has  already 
been  of  great  advantage.  The  common  methods  of  public 
economy  —  a  horizontal  reduction  of  expenses  and  refusal 
to  carry  out  imperative  reforms  —  are  both  brutal  and 
wasteful.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  pressure  of  large 
expenditures  will  more  and  more  force  attention  to  the 
economy  of  the  prevention  of  dependence. 


CHAPTER   XV.    - 
PRIVATE  CHARITIES. 

1 1  Private  charities  are  those  that  in  their  management  are 
independent  of  the  authority  of  the  State,  although  like 
private  individuals  they  may  be  subject  to  its  general  police 

-Land  supervisory  powers.  A  private  charity  may  receive 
public  money  in  the  form  of  a  subsidy,  or  from  the  proceeds 
of  legacies  or  endowments,  or  from  voluntary  contributions  ; 
but  we  concern  ourselves  here  chiefly  with  the  last-men- 
Itioned  method  of  obtaining  money. 

We  have  already  referred  in  Chapter  I.  to  the  influence  of 
the  ancient  and  mediaeval  church  in  securing  the  bestowal 
of  alms.  The  art  of  inducing  men  to  give  has  been  prac- 
tised ever  since  charity  began,  and  at  all  times  one  of 
its  most  constant  features  has  been  religious  or  ecclesiastical 
influence.^  At  the  present  time  the  church  is  still  a  most 
powerful  agent  in  inducing  people  to  give.  Whether  chari- 
ties are  identified  with  any  particular  denomination  or  not, 
it  is  usually,  though  of  course  not  uniformly,  the  people  of 
the  churches  that  support  them  ;  and  of  all  the  churches  the 
one  that  probably  induces  the  largest  amount  of  giving  in 
proportion  to  the  means  of  those  who  give  is  the  Roman 
Catholic.  The  religious  orders  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  are  exceptional  in  the  amount  of  personal  service 
contributed  to  the  care  of  the  poor.^     But  in  the  gift  of  both 

1  In  1903,  one-third  of  the  benevolent  institutions  listed  in  the  special 
census  report,  i.e.  hospitals,  day  nurseries,  permanent  and  temporary 
homes  for  adults  and  children,  were  under  ecclesiastical  control. 

2  See  Baluffi,  Uhlhorn,  and  Brace. 

377 


378  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

personal  service  and  money  the  Jews  are  perhaps  more 
systematic  and  more  liberal  than  either  Roman  Catholics  or 
Protestants. 

Of  Protestant  denominations,  there  are  few  in  the  large 
cities,  where  destitution  is  a  problem,  that  have  not  done 
something  for  the  care  of  the  poor.  Preventive  and  educa- 
tional work,  originally  chiefly  undertaken  by  the  Unitarians, 
is  now  carried  on  by  most  denominations.  The  great  hospi- 
tals are  likely  to  be  supported  by  whatever  denomination 
has  the  largest  wealthy  membership  in  any  large  city.  An 
unfortunate  feature  of  the  work  of  American  churches  is 
interdenominational  competition,  which  induces  many  of 
them  to  develop  their  charities  as  engines  of  church  exten- 
sion. This  can  be,  and  sometimes  has  been,  carried  too  far, 
but  the  condition  of  things  does  not  seem  to  be  worse  than 
in  countries  having  a  single  church,  where  ecclesiastical 
orders  within  the  church  compete  one  with  another. 

The  development  by  secular  charities  of  more  careful, 
thorough,  and  sympathetic  methods  of  relief  has  of  late 
placed  the  churches  at  great  disadvantage  in  dispensing 
relief  to  any  except  their  own  members.  Many  churches 
have  practically  no  poor  members  and  few  of  them  have 
trained  agents  to  give  relief  and  comfort  to  the  needy  in 
homes.  Those  congregations  which  are  compelled  to  give 
a  large  amount  of  relief  have  generally  adopted  modern 
methods,  but  there  is  at  present  no  organized  system  of  relief 
giving  in  any  Protestant  denomination. 

It  has  been  questioned  by  philanthropists  of  great  experi- 
ence whether  relief  by  churches  should  not  be  discontinued 
altogether.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  it  is  subject  to  the 
same  abuse  and  the  same  disadvantages  as  public  outdoor 
relief  and  as  indiscriminate  almsgiving.  Some  clergymen 
even  have  taken  the  position  that  the  churches  are  intended 
only  for  worship  and  for  religious  fellowship,  and  not  for 
giving  material  aid. 


PRIVATE  CHARITIES.  379 

Professor  Devine  has  said  that  while  some  churches  have 
adopted  discriminating  methods  and  have  cooperated  with 
other  benevolent  agencies,  the  majority  pursue  an  antiquated 
and  short-sighted  policy,  giving  relief  from  sentimental  mo- 
tives without  personal  knowledge  of  its  effects  and  often- 
times in  the  hope  of  making  converts.^  Professor  Hender- 
son, on  the  contrary,  thinks  religious  charity  has  a  great 
advantage;  for,  if  wisely  conducted,  it  goes  deepest  into  the 
spirit ;  but  he  acknowledges  the  same  dangers  described  by 
Professor  Devine  and  proposes  cooperation  of  the  churches 
with  the  Charity  Organization  Societies  as  a  remedy.^ 

The  Church  District  Plan  in  Buffalo  furnishes  the  best 
illustration  of  a  definite  scheme  of  cooperation  between  a 
charity  organization  society  and  the  churches. 

"  The  plan  proposed  to  divide  the  city  into  districts,  each  district  to 
be  assigned  to  a  church.  The  churches  accepting  a  district  agreed  to 
care  for  every  family  not  otherwise  cared  for  by  an  individual,  organi- 
zation, or  other  church.  When  a  family  needing  care  had  a  definite 
church  connection,  that  church  was  to  be  asked  to  provide  the  neces- 
sary visitor  and  such  needed  material  relief  as  it  could  afford,  calling 
on  the  society  for  the  rest.  If  the  family  had  no  responsible  church 
connection,  it  was  to  be  referred  to  the  church  district  which  had 
agreed  to  provide  a  friendly  visitor  to  work  with  the  society,  and  such 
material  relief  as  it  could  afford.  Furthermore,  each  church  accepting 
a  district  pledged  itself  to  feel  a  special  responsibility  for  the  moral 
elevation  of  its  district,  through  friendly  visiting  to  referred  families 
and  such  other  agencies  as  settlements,  clubs,  classes,  etc.,  as  it  could 
establish."  ^ 

The  results  of  this  plan,  undertaken  in  1895,  have  been 
most  satisfactory ;  in  1906,  120  churches  had  assumed 
charge  of  districts,  and  from  them  438  families  received 
responsible  care,  and  many  of  the  churches  have  opened 
settlements    and    social    centres.       The    Charity    Organi- 

1  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  74-75,  325. 

2  Henderson,  "Dependents,"  etc.,  p.  147. 

8  Report  of  the  Assistant  Secretary,  1906,  pp.  21-22. 


380  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

zation  Society,  which  formerly  had  difficulty  in  obtaining 
friendly  visitors,  now  has  165 ;  the  overlapping  of  church 
and  charitable  aid  has  been  checked,  and  constructive  social 
work  has  been  stimulated.  The  plan  has  afforded  an  oppor- 
tunity to  educate  the  churches  doing  less  intelligent  work; 
and  finally  it  has  produced  a  high  degree  of  understanding 
and  cooperation  between  the  active  churches  and  the 
society.  It  should  be  added  that  the  society  receives  and 
supervises  the  reports  of  the  visitors,  and  if  it  finds  any  of 
them  neglectful  or  unqualified,  removes  the  family  from 
their  care.  Other  cities,  particularly  Boston,  report  a  large 
amount  of  cooperation  between  the  churches  and  the 
Associated  Charities.  It  seems  probable  that  as  individual 
members  of  churches  become  familiar  with  modern  charity 
methods,  and  as  clergymen  receive  in  theological  seminaries 
proper  training  in  charities  and  other  lines  of  applied  sociol- 
ogy, some  of  the  objections  to  ecclesiastical  charity  will  be 
removed,  and  it  will  become  less  and  less  sectarian.  The 
United  Hebrew  Charities  throughout  the  country,  whose 
charitable  methods  might  serve  as  models  for  the  benevolent 
work  of  other  religious  bodies,  endeavor  to  take  care  of  all 
their  own  poor,  but  do  not  exclude  other  poor  from  the 
benefits  of  many  of  their  institutions.  At  the  same  time 
their  individual  members  are  often  most  liberal  contributors 
to  every  sort  of  constructive  work  undertaken  by  persons  of 
other  religious  views.^ 

Next  after  religious  influence,  pure  and  simple,  the  most 
powerful  of  the  secondary  motives  that  induce  men  to  give 
money  for  charitable  purposes  is  possibly  social  influence. 
Many  of  the  large  charities  of  our  cities  are  officered,  so  far 
as  boards  of  management  are  concerned,  by  fashionable  or 
otherwise  influential  people ;  and  to  contribute  to  the  chari- 
ties of  the  locality  is  one  of  the  means  by  which  social  ad- 
vancement is  secured.  A  long  chapter  might  be  written  on 
1  Frankel,  Annals,  etc.,  vol.  xxi.,  1903,  pp.  389  ff. 


PRIVATE  CHARITIES.  381 

the  methods  of  raising  money  for  charities  by  means  of  balls, 
entertainments,  oyster  suppers,  and  other  devices  for  invei- 
gling money  from  the  pockets  of  those  who  would  not  other- 
wise contribute  the  same  amounts.  Such  enterprises  must 
be  judged  each  on  its  own  merits.  The  end  does  not  justify 
the  means;  the  means  must  justify  themselves.  A  lottery 
is  pernicious,  though  managed  by  a  church  for  the  benefit  of 
a  charity.  A  voting  contest  is  usually  vulgar  and  mischiev- 
ous in  its  results,  no  matter  what  institution  may  be  the 
beneficiary.  Ostentation  and  extravagance  at  a  charity  ball 
are  just  as  condemnable  as  at  any  other  place,  possibly  more 
so.  Wheedling  and  teasing  are  no  more  pleasant  for  a  chari- 
table purpose  than  for  any  other.  On  the  other  hand,  any 
occasion  which  has  sufficient  results  in  instruction  or  health- 
ful social  recreation  to  justify  the  expense  is  justified  irre- 
spective of  its  motive. 

The  matter  of  financiering  methods  in  private  charities 
has  recently  been  widely  discussed,  chiefly  because  as  charities 
have  become  more  business-like  and  have  engaged  the  inter- 
est of  larger  numbers  of  intelligent  and  self-respecting  peo- 
ple, the  old  methods  of  teasing,  wheedling,  even  holding  up 
those  who  were  thought  to  be  able  to  give,  have  become 
wholly  distasteful.  However  worthy  a  charity  may  be,  none 
of  the  people  connected  with  it  now  wish  to  do  the  begging 
for  it.  It  is  often  said  that  a  charity  doing  good  work 
should  receive  the  spontaneous  support  of  the  community, 
and  it  may  do  so  if  it  is  picturesque  and  touching,  or  widely 
advertised  ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  some  of  the  most  useful 
charities  have  none  of  these  spectacular  qualities,  and  appeal 
to  the  intelligence  more  than  to  the  emotions.  If  the  work 
for  crippled  children  or  abandoned  babies  is  emotionally 
presented,  money  can  easily  be  obtained ;  but  a  community 
has  to  be  slowly  educated  to  support  a  charity  organization 
society  or  preventive  measures  against  tuberculosis. 

The  difficulty  in  securing  regular  and  sufficient  support 


382  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

created  a  demand  for  skilled  solicitors  who  could  be  paid  a 
commission  for  their  work  and  relieve  the  charitable  man- 
agement of  a  disagreeable  task.  The  people  willing  to  do 
this  work  were,  however,  generally  unsatisfactory  ;  the  pro- 
fessional business  solicitor,  who  would  undertake  the  work, 
was  usually  a  type  of  person  without  knowledge  or  sympa- 
thy with  the  charity  which  he  expected  to  promote,  often  by 
methods  discreditable  to  the  work.  The  unprofessional  so- 
licitor—  some  superannuated  clergyman  or  charity  worker  — 
lacked  the  vigor  and  experience  in  business  enterprise  neces- 
sary to  success.  And  in  either  case  the  solicitor  was  likely 
to  receive  a  disproportionate  share  of  the  proceeds.  The 
task  of  presenting  the  claims  of  a  charity,  even  a  perfectly 
worthy  one,  to  people  beset  with  many  solicitations  of  a 
similar  sort,  does,  in  fact,  require  a  high  order  of  business 
ability  and  great  personal  self-sacrifice ;  and  commonly  those 
fitted  for  it  prefer  to  give  themselves  more  directly  to  some 
form  of  social  service. 

The  payment  of  a  salary  instead  of  the  commission  and 
the  title  of  financial  secretary,  making  the  collector  a  mem- 
ber of  the  active  staff  of  the  society,  has,  in  some  cases, 
enlisted  the  service  of  persons  who  were  competent  to  repre- 
sent it  and  to  educate  the  benevolent  to  give  regularly  and 
intelligently. 

It  is  not  more  certain  that  there  are  large  sums  seeking 
investment  in  ordinary  industry  than  it  is  that  there  are 
large  sums  which  the  holders  would  gladly  give  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  public  good,  if  they  could  find  ways  of  bestow- 
ing such  sums  that  they  were  sure  would  result  in  helpful- 
ness. In  order  to  obtain  possession  of  a  portion  of  this 
really  large  fund,  which  is  intelligently  given  or  intelligently 
withheld,  the  managers  of  a  charity  must  not  only  do  thor- 
oughly good  work,  but  must  contrive  to  let  it  be  known  that 
they  are  doing  such  work.  The  methods  of  philanthi-opic 
advertising,  using  the  word  "advertising  "in  a  distinctly  hon- 


PRIVATE  CHARITIES.  383 

orable  sense,  must  be  varied  according  to  the  psychology  of 
the  givers.  The  best  introduction  that  a  charity  can  have  to 
the  benevolent  people  of  the  community  is  the  gradual  dif- 
fusion from  one  intelligent  person  to  another  of  the  opinion 
that  the  charity  is  in  fact  doing  something  that  is  worth 
while.  Beyond  this,  most  of  the  non-sectarian  charities  and 
those  operating  under  the  guidance  of  Protestant  denomina- 
tions issue  annual  reports.  As  a  rule,  it  does  not  pay  a 
society  to  economize  by  a  failure  to  publish  such  a  report. 
In  order  to  reach  the  most  influential  members  of  the  com- 
munity, it  must  be  well  prepared,  well  printed,  and  dis- 
creetly distributed.  Many  societies  publish  their  own  con- 
demnation in  their  annual  reports,  and  many  more  fail  to 
publish  anything  that  commends  them  to  the  intelligent  part 
of  the  community.  The  perpetual  re-using  of  stereotyped 
phrases,  the  filling  up  a  report  with  the  cant  of  philanthropy, 
and  having  the  reports  year  in  and  year  out  substantially  in 
the  same  form,  from  which  the  essential  facts  regarding 
efficiency  are  omitted,  brands  the  society  as  unprogressive 
and  unsatisfactory.^ 

In  addition  to  the  annual  reports,  a  great  many  societies 
issue  circulars,  and  even  periodicals,  explaining  their  work 
as  it  develops.  The  daily  and  weekly  press  is  freqiiently 
not  as  wisely  used  as  it  might  be.  What  the  daily  press 
wants  is  news  ;  and  there  is  usually,  or  at  least  there  should 
be,  a  considerable  amount  of  news  about  the  development 
of  any  large  charity.  To  offer  this  in  a  way  that  makes  it 
available  for  the  daily  press,  is  to  offer  exactly  the  material 
which  will  do  the  most  good  when  printed.  It  is  of  no  advan- 
tage to  a  newspaper,  nor  to  an  institution,  to  print  a  "  lot  of 
gush"  about  some  charity.  The  editor  does  not  want  it 
for  the  simple  reason  that  he  knows  it  will  not  be  read ;  and 

1  Catholic  charities  very  rarely  publish  reports,  unless  required  to  do 
so  because  they  receive  public  money  or  for  some  similar  reason.  An 
exception  is  the  Society  of  St.  Viucent  de  Paul. 


384  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

if  he  inserts  it  at  all,  it  is  under  personal  pressure  and 
although  he  is  conscious  that  its  insertion  is  a  mistake. 
There  is,  moreover,  no  more  reason  why  a  charitable  society 
should  not  pay  for  advertising  space  in  which  to  present 
its  needs  than  a  State  university.  If  charity  items  were 
offered  strictly  as  news,  and  advertising  paid  for,  the  editors 
of  general  newspapers  would  be  more  inclined  to  promote 
really  important  charitable  enterprises  in  their  editorials, 
and  the  general  public  would  be  better  informed. 

In  scanning  the  contributors'  list  of  a  number  of  societies, 
it  becomes  apparent  that  the  burden  of  voluntary  charity 
falls  on  a  very  small  number  of  givers  and  that  there  is  a 
large  portion  of  the  public  able  to  give,  whose  names  do 
not  appear.  The  rich  man  is  besieged  with  the  claims  of 
many  charities,  the  moderately  well  off  not  infrequently  gives 
to  only  one  or  two  and  by  no  means  to  the  extent  of  his 
capacity  or  his  duty.  This  again  results  in  an  unequal  distri- 
bution of  the  funds  among  worthy  charities.  To  obviate  these 
injustices  and  inequalities,  as  well  as  to  use  the  funds  most 
judiciously,  many  of  the  Federations  of  Jewish  Charities  act 
as  a  financial  committee  to  pass  upon  the  budget,  collect  the 
funds,  and  redistribute  them  to  all  the  charities  cooperating 
in  the  plan.  The  contributor  may  designate  where  his 
money  shall  go,  or  he  may  give  it  to  the  general  fund  which 
is  distributed  according  to  the  needs  of  the  charity 
budgets.-^ 

A  similar  system  has  been  in  operation  in  Liverpool,  with 
satisfactory  results  for  thirty  years,  and  exists  in  a  modified 
form  in  a  few  American  cities.  ^  In  the  case  of  the  Jewish 
Charities  the  adoption  of  the  plan  has  resulted  in  a  very 
large  increase  of  revenue.  The  operation  of  any  such  plan 
involves  a  decision  as  to  what  charities  should  receive  con- 
tributions. In  San  Francisco,  a  method  has  been  devised 
to  induce  the  public,  and  especially  business  men,  to  give 
1  N.  C.  C,  1907.  2  Denver,  Colorado ;  Lyuu,  Massachusetts. 


PRIVATE  CHARITIES.  385 

only  to  such  institutions  and  charities  as  are  endorsed  by  an 
expert  committee.  Tlie  Charities  Endorsement  Committee 
is  made  up  of  representatives  from  the  Mercliants'  Associ- 
ation, the  Associated  Charities,  and  the  Charities  at  Large, 
and  its  secretary  is  tlie  secretary  of  the  Associated  Charities. 
The  Committee  investigates  all  charitable  enterprises  apply- 
ing to  it  for  endorsement,  and  issues  an  official  card  to  those 
doing  honest  and  efficient  work.  The  members  of  the  Mer- 
chants' Association,  representing  a  majority  of  the  moneyed 
men  of  the  city,  refused  to  give  unendorsed  charities,  and 
the  general  public  is  being  slowly  educated  to  do  likewise. 
The  plan,  while  rousing  the  resentment  of  all  fraudulent 
charities  and  of  many  that  were  far  behind  the  demands  of 
modern  philanthropy  in  their  standards,  has  proved  success- 
ful in  driving  the  former  from  the  city,  and  in  inducing 
many  of  the  latter  to  make  an  effort  to  meet  the  requirements. 
The  Merchants'  Association  approve  it  heartily  as  relieving 
them  of  a  horde  of  solicitors,  and  the  endorsed  charities  as 
giving  them  a  recognition  which  is  their  due.  But  its  chief 
value  lies  probably  in  the  intimate  knowledge  obtained  of 
the  charities  of  the  city.  The  disclosure  that  three  child- 
placing  societies  could  not  be  endorsed,  has  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  a  Children's  Placing-out  Agency  of  the 
best  type,  which  is  supported  jointly  by  fourteen  orphanages 
and  supervised  by  the  Associated  Charities.  So  far  as  finance 
is  concerned,  the  Charities  Endorsement  Committee  at  pres- 
ent has  no  machinery  for  collecting  and  disbursing  funds, 
although  such  a  feature  was  a  part  of  the  original  plan. 

In  the  chapter  on  the  Destitute  Sick,  it  has  already  been 
shown  that  the  hospitals  of  New  York  were  found  to  be 
greatly  in  need  of  more  business-like  methods  of  bookkeep- 
ing, and  a  more  effective  presentation  of  their  work  and  their 
needs  than  the  ordinary  annual  report  afforded.  In  summing 
up  the  matter  of  support  for  charities,  the  first  requirement 
is  that  the  society  shall  be  sound,  progressive,  and  positive ; 


386  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

and  the  second,  that  it  shall  present  its  budget  in  a  simple 
and  perfectly  intelligible  manner ;  thirdly,  the  public  must 
be  educated  by  a  steady  campaign  of  legitimate  advertising, 
carried  on  by  a  committee  of  interested  public  men,  perhaps 
with  a  salaried  financial  secretary.  The  general  public  has 
a  right  to  know  what  is  done  with  the  money  which  it  gives, 
and  in  proportion  as  it  does  know  it  will  be  interested  to 
give  more.  For  the  support  of  small  charities  it  is  a  mis- 
take to  depend  chiefly  upon  a  few  rich  people,  who  have 
many  other  claims  upon  them.  A  large  body  of  well-to- 
do  persons,  if  kept  interested,  are  more  reliable  and  more 
useful  because  they  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  the  work  among 
their  friends.  Uninterested  contributors  are  of  much  less 
value  than  interested  ones  because  they  are  less  likely  to 
renew  subscriptions  and  to  advertise  the  work. 

In  order  to  commend  the  work  of  a  charity  to  the  favor 
of  the  most  intelligent  part  of  a  community,  it  is  essential 
that  no  attempt  should  be  made  to  do  the  work  too  cheaply. 
"Cheap  and  nasty"  is  a  phrase  that  can  be  applied  to 
charities  as  well  as  to  merchandise.  Just  as  a  physician 
cannot  afford  to  begin  practice  without  a  proper  prepara- 
tion for  his  work,  and  without  the  facilities  in  the  way  of 
library,  instruments,  and  ofl&ce  that  are  necessary  in  order 
to  do  his  work  well,  so  a  charity  will  not,  even  from  the 
financial  side,  find  it  wise  to  undertake  to  do  for  seven 
thousand  dollars  a  work  that  can  only  properly  be  done  for 
ten  thousand.  It  is  usually  easier  to  manage  the  finances 
of  a  society  that  insists  on  having  a  revenue  adequate  to 
the  work  that  it  is  doing  —  that  would,  in  fact,  go  out  of  ex- 
istence rather  than  proceed  otherwise  —  than  it  is  to  manage 
the  finances  of  a  society  that  consents  to  half  do  its  work 
because  of  an  inadequate  income. 

The  advantages  of  private  charities  over  public  ones  are 
that  they  afford  on  the  average  a  somewhat  larger  share  of 
personal  sympatliy,  that  their  benefits  cannot  logically  be 


PRIVATE  CHARITIES.  38T 

claimed  as  a  right  (although  they  often  are),  that  they  do 
not  oppress  the  poor  by  increasing  taxation,  and  that  they 
are  supposed  to  bring  a  somewhat  smaller  degree  of  degra- 
dation to  the  recipient  of  relief.  Private  charities  are  es- 
pecially useful  along  lines  of  philanthropic  experimentation. 
People  with  ideas  in  advance  of  those  of  the  general  com- 
munity can  find  through  them  an  opportunity  to  experi- 
ment, and,  by  results,  to  satisfy  the  community  as  a  whole 
of  the  need  and  of  the  possibility  of  doing  a  certain  work  ; 
but  they  are  not  suited  to  the  administration  of  large  funds, 
and  the  doing  of  a  large  volume  of  work,  unless  they  are 
made  amenable  to  State  regulation. 

The  managers  of  private  charities,  while  not  always  re- 
senting supervision,  do  not  invite  it ;  but  it  seems  obvious 
that  amounts  given  for  such  purposes  are  trust  funds  which 
should  be  accounted  for  as  other  trust  funds  are  required  to 
be  by  law.  There  is  no  question  that  private  charities  re- 
ceiving public  subsidies  should  be  supervised  by  State 
authority,  but  the  reasons  in  the  case  of  those  receiving 
subscriptions  are  not  so  patent.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  many  of  the  beneficiaries  are  ignorant  or  helpless,  it 
seems  clear  that  the  State  should  exercise  its  police  powers 
to  protect  them  at  least  as  much  as  it  does  ordinary  citi- 
zens.^ 

A  second  reason  lies  in  the  fraud  and  imposture  which 
often  masquerades  as  charity.  Among  many  illustrations 
may  be  cited  that  of  a  charming  and  plausible  woman  who 
collected  large  sums  of  money  in  Chicago  and  San  Prancisco 
for  several  years  for  a  children's  nursery  and  for  an  orphan 
asylum.  The  orphan  asylum,  when  investigated,  was  a 
lonely  country  house  containing  four  neglected  children,  and 
the  money  collected  for  the  nursery  would  have  cared  for 
three  times  the  number  of  children  that  were  kept  for  show 
purposes  in  the  city.  Even  when  no  imposture  is  intended, 
1  Hart,  N.  C.  C,  1902,  pp.  130  ff. 


388  AMERICAN  CHARITIES, 

the  "  goodness  fallacy  "  —  the  fallacy  that  virtue  is  all  the 
qualification  required  to  run  a  benevolent  enterprise  —  leads 
to  ill-managed,  dreary,  and  niggardly  charities  which  are  far 
worse  for  the  victims  than  even  the  indifferent  public  insti- 
tution. The  demand  for  State  regulation  of  private  charities 
is  rapidly  strengthening,  and  at  the  present  time  about  one- 
half  the  States  require  supervision  by  some  board,  generally 
the  Board  of  Charities,  with  various  degrees  of  power  by 
inspection,  license,  and  control. 

Finally,  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  field  of 
public  and  private  charity  seems  to  lie  between  those  de- 
pendents requiring  some  degree  of  control,  and  those  that 
may  be  allowed  their  freedom ;  between  measures  for 
chronic  dependents  and  those  looking  to  prevention ;  be- 
tween institutional  care  on  a  large  scale  and  private  aid 
to  the  needy  in  their  homes.  Generally  speaking,  private 
charity  is  best  fitted  to  conditions  where  much  personal, 
individual  sympathy  is  required ;  public  charity,  to  problems 
requiring  large  funds,  equipment,  and  control.  Finally, 
private  charity,  under  the  stimulus  of  some  individual  en- 
thusiast, will  mark  out  new  paths,  which  when  proven  may 
be  adopted  by  the  State.  Nevertheless  as  the  fields  become 
more  defined,  there  appears  a  tendency  toward  cooperation 
between  the  most  enlightened  public  aiid  the  most  progres- 
sive private  charity  which  should  eventually  produce  better 
results  than  have  hitherto  been  possible. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
ENDOWMENTS. 

When  those  who  support  a  charity  find  it  difficult  to 
raise  the  funds  they  need,  and  are  weary  with  unsuc- 
cessful applications  for  contributions  ;  when  they  dislike 
to  turn  to  the  public  treasury  because  of  the  stigma  at- 
taching to  public  relief,  their  wish  is  apt  to  be  that  their 
charity  were  adequately  endowed.  Then,  they  think,  they 
could  give  their  whole  time  to  the  administration  of  the 
funds,  instead  of  giving  so  much  of  it  to  securing  funds. 
It  seems  as  though  their  hands  would  be  free  for  very  large 
usefulness,  and  the  benefits  of  the  institution  might  be 
indefinitely  extended.  It  consequently  happens  that  the 
annual  reports  of  nearly  every  charitable  association  which 
is  supported  by  voluntary  contributions  contain,  in  a  con- 
spicuous place,  a  form  of  bequest  by  means  of  which  any 
one  so  inclined  may,  without  inconvenience,  insert  a  pro- 
vision in  his  will,  leaving  property  to  this  particular  charity. 

There  is  a  feeling  in  the  community  that  one  who  leaves 
his  wealth  to  charity  has  done  a  commendable  thing,  and, 
therefore,  nothing  is  done  to  discourage  charitable  endow- 
ments in  the  older  States  of  the  Union,  where  they  tend  to 
accumulate  rapidly.  Yet  no  other  country  has  ever  per- 
mitted entire  freedom  in  the  granting  of  charitable  bequests 
without  finding,  in  the  course  of  years,  that  too  much  wealth 
was  coming  to  be  too  injudiciously  administered  by  the 
"  dead  hand." 

As  an  example  of  what  a  country  comes  to  with  the  lapse 
of  time,  we  may  turn  to  England.     The  great  endowments 

389 


390  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

of  the  monasteries,  with  their  dole-giving  features,  were 
secularized  by  Henry  VIII.  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation. 
The  opinion  has  already  been  cited  that  the  property  was 
of  more  use  in  the  hands  of  dissolute  favorites  of  the  king 
than  in  that  of  the  monks.  Bequests  of  land  were  strictly 
limited  by  subsequent  legislation,  and  endowments  for  su- 
perstitious uses  were  forbidden,  and  in  many  ways  the 
power  of  bequests  was  greatly  restricted;  but  when  Lord 
Brougham,  among  his  many  other  agitations  during  the  first 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  got  a  commission  to  in- 
vestigate endowed  charities,  it  was  found  to  be  a  gigantic 
task  even  to  enumerate  them.  The  commission  worked 
from  1818  to  1837 ;  and  the  results  of  this  research  were 
published  in  38  folio  volumes,  consisting  of  some  25,000 
pages,  describing  28,820  charities,  with  an  aggregate  income  of 
£1,200,000,  compiled  at  a  cost  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion, A  general  digest  of  this  great  report  was  published 
in  1867-1876  by  the  Charity  Commissioners.  The  gross 
income  from  endowments  as  given  in  this  register  was :  — 

From  land £1,5.58,251 

From  personalty 640,213 

Total £2,198,464 

The  land  held  by  them  included  523,311  acres.  The  income 
was  devoted  to  the  various  forms  of  charity  in  the  following 
proportion :  — 

Education £666,86.3 

Apprenticing  and  advancement 87,865 

Clergy  and  lecturers 90,843 

Church  purposes 112,895 

Nonconformist  churches  and  ministers 38,832 

Parochial  and  other  public  uses 66,876 

Almshouses  and  pensions 652,119 

Medical  hospitals  and  dispensaries 199,140 

Distribution  amongst  the  poor 383,029 

The  income  included  no  estimate  of  the  prospective  in- 


ENDOWMENTS.  391 

crement  in  the  lands  held  by  the  charities,  nor  upon  the 
buildings  and  other  leases,  nor  of  the  values  of  the  land  and 
buildings  kept  for  occupation  as  charitable  premises.  The 
universities,  some  large  school  foundations,  and  cathedral 
fgundations  were  also  omitted ;  and  a  considerable  number 
of  charities  probably  escaped  enumeration/ 

The  proper  administration  of  such  a  great  block  of  wealth 
as  this  is  manifestly  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  com- 
munity. The  English  Charity  Commission,  created  in  1853, 
has  the  power  to  require  statements  and  accounts  of  endow- 
ments and  within  limits  to  alter  the  use  of  ineffective 
foundations.^ 

In  the  United  States  there  are  special  dangers  in  laxness 
in  this  matter,  by  reason  of  the  provision  of  our  federal 
Constitution  which  forbids  States  to  pass  laws  impairing  the 
obligation  of  contracts.  This  makes  it  especially  diffi- 
cult for  us  to  modify  the  system  that  is  now  developing. 
In  England,  whenever  Parliament  sees  fit  to  change  the 
administration  of  an  endowment,  or  even  to  sequester 
its  revenue  for  other  purposes  than  those  of  the  testa- 
tor, it  has  power  to  do  so;  but  that  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion with  the  State  legislatures  in  this  country.  If  a 
charitable  establishment  has  a  charter  in  which  the  State 
has  not  reserved  the  right  to  amend  or  repeal  it,  then,  under 
the  Dartmouth  College  decision,  that  charter  is  a  contract 
with  the  State,  which  cannot  be  altered  without  the  consent 
of  the  corporation.^ 

1  Kenny,  "  Endowed  Charities,"  pp.  135  ff. 

2  Lathrop,  N.  C.  C,  1905,  p.  433. 

3  The  Dartmouth  College  decision  was  reported  in  4  Wheat.  516  et  seq. ; 
also  in  1  N.  H.  111.  The  legislature  of  New  Hampshire  had  attempted  to 
modify  the  corporation  of  Dartmouth  College  by  changing  the  number  of 
its  trustees  and  in  other  ways.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  decided 
that  this  was  possible  without  the  consent  of  the  old  Board  of  Trustees. 
The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  reversed  the  decision,  holding 
that  the  charter  was  a  contract  between  the  State  and  the  corporation, 
and  could  not  be  altered  without  the  consent  of  the  latter,  on  account  of 


392  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

It  is  better,  as  any  one  must  see  on  reflection,  to  make 
proper  rules  for  the  regulation  of  bequests  at  the  beginning, 
rather  than  to  be  compelled  to  remove  a  mountain  of  abuses 
after  they  have  accumulated.  Owners  of  property  fre- 
quently feel  as  if  they  had  a  '^ natural  right"  to  provide 
for  its  bestowal  in  perpetuity.  But  why  people  should 
expect  to  be  allowed  to  manage  their  property  after  they 
are  dead  and  can  no  longer  use  it  themselves,  it  is  hard  to 
see ;  and  it  is  even  harder  to  see  why  a  community  should 
think  itself  bound  to  accord  them  the  privilege  that  is  to 
make  them  legislators  in  perpetuity,  regarding  the  dispo- 
sition of  a  certain  amount  of  wealth,  which  they  happen 
at  the  time  of  death  to  possess.  It  is  felt  perhaps  that 
the  person  who  leaves  money  to  charity  acts  only  from  com- 
mendable motives,  and  that  his  will  should  therefore  be 
respected.  But  even  if  it  were  true  that  he  acted  from 
good  motives,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  good  in- 
tentions of  the  donor  do  not  insure  conscientiousness  and 
wisdom  in  the  executors  of  a  trust,  nor  the  adaptation  of 
the  trust  to  the  needs  of  changing  generations. 

the  provision  of  the  federal  Constitution  which  forbids  any  legislature  to 
pass  laws  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts.  Art.  I.,  Sec.  10.  The 
decision  has  been  extensively  undermined  in  the  case  of  railroads  and 
other  corporations  considered  to  be  of  a  quasi-public  nature,  by  the  ruling 
in  Munn  vs.  Illinois,  in  which  it  was  held  that  the  legislature  had  the  power 
to  regulate  the  administration  of  property  affected  by  a  public  use.  Later 
decisions  have  modified  this  by  giving  to  courts  the  right  to  say  what 
"  regulation  "  is  "  reasonable."  So  far  as  eleemosynary  corporations  are 
concerned,  the  Dartmouth  College  decision  has  not  been  modified  to  any 
appreciable  extent;  but  it  has  been  rendered  nugatory  for  corporations 
created  since  the  time  it  came  to  be  appreciated,  by  the  insertion  in  a 
large  number  of  State  constitutions  of  the  provision  that  all  charters 
granted  under  general  or  special  acts  shall  be  subject  to  amendment  or 
repeal  by  the  State.  This  makes  the  power  of  ameudment  or  repeal  a 
reservation  on  the  part  of  the  State  included  in  the  contract.  Whether 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  was  good  law  or 
not,  it  was  certainly  a  mistake  from  an  economic  standpoint.  As  Cooley 
says  in  effect,  it  has  been  found  that  there  is  less  danger  in  granting  to 
legislatures  the  power  of  amendment  and  repeal  of  charters,  than  there 
is  in  giving  to  legislatures  power  to  grant  charters  which  are  irrepealable. 


ENDOWMENTS.  393 

But  the  motives  of  the  donor  are  by  no  means  always 
commendable,  and  are  of  as  varied  and  sometimes  as  doubt- 
ful character  as  those  leading  to  other  human  actions. 
Love  of  power,  ostentation  and  vanity,  superstition,  and 
even  spite,  play  a  not  unimportant  part  in  determining  the 
disposition  of  property. 

"An  appreciable  number  of  men,"  says  Hobhouse,  "  and  perhaps 
more  women,  especially  those  who  are  childless  and  have  been  teased 
by  expectant  legatees,  are  on  bad  terms  with  their  relatives.  Now, 
the  only  way  to  disinherit  your  legal  heirs  is  to  give  your  property  to 
some  one  else  ;  what,  then,  so  obvious  as  to  give  it  to  charity  ?  .  .  . 
As  in  other  departments  of  life,  so  in  this,  the  vulgar  are  influenced  by 
vulgar  motives.  If  a  man  makes  his  gift  by  will,  i.e.  out  of  other 
people's  pockets  instead  of  his  own  ;  if  we  find  him  stipulating  for 
benefits  to  his  own  soul  ;  making  provisions  to  perpetuate  his  own 
name  or  arms  or  tomb  ;  devising  solemn  oaths  to  deter  men  from 
altering  his  arrangements ;  in  such  cases,  whatever  fine  words  he  may 
have  used,  we  may  be  sure  he  was  really  thinking  more  of  himself 
than  of  his  fellow-creatures."  ^ 

But  even  when  the  motive  is  philanthropic  or  public- 
spirited,  when  it  is  intended  to  provide  for  a  class  whose 
interests  are  neglected  or  to  return  to  a  locality  some  of  the 
fruits  of  the  resident  donor's  prosperity,  its  terms  are  fre- 
quently so  rigid  and  narrow  that  it  shortly  ceases  to  have 
any  vital  relation  to  existing  needs.  An  endowment  pro- 
viding for  the  ransom  of  the  captives  of  the  North  African 
pirates  may  have  benefited  some  individuals  for  a  time 
after  it  was  made,  but  to  provide  for  a  similar  expen- 
diture in  perpetuity  was  an  absurdity.  An  endowment 
for  superannuated  wool-carders  continued  to  support  war- 
den and  bedesmen  long  after  wool-carding  had  ceased  to  be 
an  occupation  in  England.  An  endowment  made  in  1683  for 
seven  poor  old  men  of  the  Protestant  religion  in  the  Asylum 
of  the  County  of  Cork,  who  had  been  soldiers  and  were 

1  Hobhouse,  pp.  15  ff. ;  Fitch,  "Endowments,"  pp.  20-21;  Allen,  "Effi- 
cient Democracy,"  pp.  308-317. 


394  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

unable  to  work,  is  handed  down  to  a  time  when  sufficient 
Protestant  soldiers  cannot  be  found  in  Cork  to  exhaust 
the  income  of  the  charity,  and  there  is  at  present  an  ac- 
cumulated fund  of  £2300.  There  is  a  fund  in  Stirling 
worth  £5400  a  year,  which  was  given  when  certain  trades 
and  crafts  possessed  a  monopoly  in  the  town,  for  the  indi- 
gent members  of  these  guilds.  The  income  of  the  charity 
became  so  great  that  it  was  distributed  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  guild  irrespective  of  poverty  and  even  of 
residence.  In  1869  it  was  found  that  of  the  412  mem- 
bers, 369  were  recipients  of  the  charity,  and  some  of 
them  were  soldiers  in  Australia.  Endowments  for  teaching 
children  to  card,  spin,  and  knit,  or  for  the  supply  of  spin- 
ning-wheels, are  of  small  use  at  the  present  time.^  It  has 
been  found  that  in  many  parishes  in  England  rents  are 
increased  by  the  fact  that  those  who  live  in  these  par- 
ticular parishes  can  obtain  doles  from  the  great  endow- 
ments. As  a  consequence,  a  pauper  population  is  attracted 
to  the  place,  and  the  poor-law  rates  are  higher  than  where 
there  are  no  endowments  at  all. 

Many  dole-giving  endowments  have  also  been  established 
in  the  United  States  which  are  having,  in  so  far  as  their 
extent  makes  it  possible,  exactly  the  same  influence.^  A 
glance  at  the  condition  of  public  trust  funds  amounting  to 
$800,000  in  a  single  Eastern  city  will  illustrate  many  of 
the  objections  to  which  such  bequests  are  open :  — 

Two  funds  to  provide  for  Thanksgiving  and  holiday  dinners  for  the 
Protestant  Poor,  especially  for  unmarried  women. 

A  pension  fund  for  "  poor,  worthy,  Protestant  single  women  over  50 
years  old." 

1  Kenny,  "Endowed  Charities,"  pp.  160  ff. 

2  In  San  Francisco  a  swarm  of  widows  with  children  is  drawn  to  the 
mayor's  office  every  year  to  get  a  share  in  an  annual  allowance  of  about 
S)2000  to  be  distributed  among  them  from  the  proceeds  of  an  endowment. 
Those  who  are  successful  receive  about  $2  each,  aud  every  one  who  applies 
for  the  dole  is  inevitably  degraded. 


ENDOWMENTS.  395 

A  fund  for  Protestant  widows  and  single  women  "  without  distinc- 
tion of  color." 

A  fund  for  the  "  nurture  and  instruction  of  poor  orphans  and  deserted 
children." 

A  fund  to  provide  tea,  coffee,  and  chocolate  for  the  inmates  of  the 
almshouse. 

A  number  of  pension  funds  for  persons  (generally  Protestants)  over 
50  years  of  age. 

The  ill-advised  character  of  many  foundations,  which  nev- 
ertheless appeal  superficially  to  the  feelings  of  generous 
people,  is  illustrated  by  the  home  for  prisoners'  children  re- 
cently projected  in  New  York.  It  is  not  only  undesirable 
to  bring  prisoners'  children  together,  where  the  brand  of  the 
parents'  disgrace  would  always  be  upon  them,  but  there  were 
already  available  homes  and  institutions  where  this  might 
be  forgotten.  Or  it  might  be  illustrated  by  a  recent  bequest 
•of  several  millions  for  "  the  worthy  poor,"  with  very  strict 
condition  of  residence,  in  a  Western  city  where  there  is 
practically  no  poverty  except  that  resulting  from  sickness 
(chiefly  tuberculosis),  and  where  a  sanatorium  is  the  desper- 
ate need  of  the  community.  A  paragraph  from  an  article 
contributed  by  Turgot  to  the  French  "  Encyclopedic "  in 
1757  sets  forth  strikingly  the  difficulties  that  must  be  en- 
countered by  one  who  tries  to  be  wise  for  all  time  to  come  :  — 

"The  testator,"  he  says,  "  is  apt  to  be  ignorant  of  the  nature  of 
the  problem  he  desires  to  solve  and  of  the  best  way  of  solving  it.  He 
is  seldom  gifted  with  a  wise  foresight  of  the  futui'e  and  of  its  wants. 
He  puts  into  his  deed  of  gift  theories,  projects,  and  restrictions  which 
are  found  by  his  successors  to  be  utterly  unworkable.  He  seeks  to 
propagate  opinions  which  posterity  disbelieves  and  does  not  want.  He 
takes  elaborate  precautions  against  dangers  which  never  arise.  He 
omits  to  guard  against  others  which  a  little  experience  shows  to  be 
serious  and  inevitable.  He  assumes  that  his  own  convictions  and  his 
own  enthusiasm  will  be  transmitted  to  subsequent  generations  of 
trustees  and  governors,  when,  in  fact,  he  is  only  placing  in  their  way 
a  sore  temptation,  at  best  to  negligence  and  insincerity,  at  worst  to 
positive  malversation  and  corruption." 


396  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

But  irrespective  of  the  motives  or  the  wisdom  of  testators, 
endowments  are  not  likely  to  accomplish  as  much  good  as 
is  expected  of  them,  because  the  character  of  boards  of 
management  is  not  all  that  could  be  desired,  and  because  of 
a  tendency  to  officialism,  which  develops  when  any  society 
finds  its  economic  existence  assured.  Boards  of  manage- 
ment are  usually  cooptative,  and  tend  to  be  made  up  of 
old  persons,  often  not  particularly  wise  or  progressive  in 
the  administration  of  the  funds  given  to  them.  As  a  con- 
sequence, the  character  of  efficient  societies  not  infrequently 
declines  when  they  become  considerably  endowed.  The 
managers  often  regard  the  work  as  nobody  else's  business, 
they  ignore  public  opinion,  private  charity  is  checked,  and 
the  society  atrophies.^  In  some  instances  the  expenses  of 
administration  eat  up  the  greater  part  of  the  income.  While 
this  is  not  the  worst  possible  result,  it  still  indicates  a  waste 
of  the  income.^ 

The  foregoing  discussion  and  illustrations  lead  to  a  few 
clear  principles  which  should  guide  legislation  and  educate 
public  opinion  in  the  matter  of  bequests. 

1.   Endowments    should   be  somewhat  strictly  regulated 

1  Allen,  "  Efficient  Democracy,"  pp.  301-302,  306-308. 

2  Girard  College  is  frequently  quoted  as  an  example  of  extravagance 
in  the  administration  of  a  charitable  trust.  At  this  college,  which  is 
really  an  industrial  school  for  boys,  several  millions  have  been  spent  on 
the  construction  of  buildings  which  are  of  white  marble.  "  The  central 
or  main  building  is  the  finest  specimen  of  pure  Greek  architecture  in 
America."  In  1907  there  was  expended  $526,452  for  an  average  of  1521 
boys  in  attendance.  By  comparison  of  these  figures  with  those  of  the 
great  universities,  it  will  be  seen  that  an  enormous  amount  of  money  is 
invested  in  the  education  of  comparatively  few  boys.  One  of  the  absurd- 
ities likely  to  cluster  about  endowments  is  found  in  connection  with 
Girard  College.  No  minister  of  any  sect  is  ever  to  be  admitted  within 
the  premises,  as  the  founder  wished  to  "  keep  the  tender  minds  of  the 
orphans  who  are  to  derive  advantage  from  this  bequest  free  from  the 
excitement  which  clashing  doctrines  or  sectarian  controversy  are  apt  to 
produce."  —  Alden,  "History  of  Child  Saving,"  pp.  70-75;  Johnson, 
Charities  Revieio,  vol.  i.,  pp.  156-157. 


ENDOWMENTS.  397 

by  law.  The  present  law  declares  bequests  invalid  for  super- 
stitious or  immoral  purposes  —  a  limitation  established  at 
the  time  of  the  Reformation  to  prevent  perpetual  payments 
for  prayers  for  the  dead.  At  the  present  time,  indiscrimi- 
nate doles  might  also  be  prohibited.  As  the  problems  of 
poor  relief  are  worked  out,  there  should  be  some  authority 
to  pass  upon  the  wisdom  of  endowments  before  they  may 
be  made. 

2.  There  should  be  supervision  —  by  the  State  Board  of 
Charities  where  one  exists  —  of  endowed  societies  and  in- 
stitutions in  operation.  This  is  necessary  to  prevent  abuse 
and  neglect  of  inmates  and  misapplication  and  extravagance 
in  the  use  of  funds. 

3.  Such  provision  as  may  be  possible  under  the  consti- 
tution should  be  made  for  the  revision  of  endowments. 
Growth  of  knowledge  and  changes  in  politics,  religion,  and 
social  life  leave  old  endowments  that  are  useless,  even 
harmful,  and  there  should  be  authority  for  revising  them. 

Limitations  upon  the  powers  of  testators  will  not  lessen 
the  amount  that  is  given  in  charity  eventually.  They  may 
keep  a  man  whose  motive  is  vanity,  who  is  set  in  his  own 
way  and  wishes  to  perpetuate  his  own  will,  from  giving 
money  to  charities,  because  he  will  see  that  public  officials 
may  interfere  with  his  plans  or  whims.  But  those  whose 
aim  in  leaving  wealth  is  to  benefit  their  fellows  will  look 
upon  it  as  an  advantage  that,  if  their  ideas  are  found  not 
to  be  sound  with  the  passage  of  years,  there  will  be  public 
authorities  having  power  to  modify  and  make  useful  their 
bequests.  Dr.  Fitch  relates  the  following  story  of  Sir  Josiah 
Mason,  the  founder  of  Science  College,  Birmingham  :  — 

"  I  said  to  him  then,  '  Are  you  not  afraid  of  leaving  such  large  be- 
quests to  posterity  when  you  see  the  modern  tendency  to  overhaul  and 
revise  the  wills  of  founders  ?  '  He  replied,  '  That  is  the  very  reason 
why  I  feel  such  confidence  in  leaving  these  sums  of  money;  if  it  were 
not  that  public  authorities  are  likely  to  be  vigilant,  and  to  correct  any 


398  AMERICAN  CHABITIES. 

mistake  that  I  make,  and  to  take  care  to  keep  these  institutions  in  full 
worlving  efBciency,  I  should  feel  very  much  hesitation  in  leaving  such 
large  sums  to  my  successors.'  It  was  in  this  spirit  that  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  1870,  he  introduced  into  his  deed  of  foundation  for  the 
Science  College  this  provision  :  '  Provided,  always,  that  it  shall  be  law- 
ful for  the  said  Josiah  Mason  at  any  time  during  his  life,  and  after  his 
decease  for  the  trustees,  within  two  years  after  the  expiration  of  every 
successive  period  of  fifteen  years,  to  alter  or  vary  the  trusts  or  provi- 
sions herein  contained  in  all  or  any  of  the  following  particulars.' 
Then  he  enumerates  every  one  of  the  particulars,  except  the  general 
object  of  the  foundation,  namely,  the  improvement  of  scientific  instruc- 
tion." i 

It  is  in  such  a  spirit  as  this  that  some  of  the  largest  recent 
bequests  to  education  and  charity  have  been  made  in  this 
country.  As  a  single  illustration  may  be  mentioned  the 
Russell  Sage  Foundation  of  ten  million  dollars,  established 
in  1907  "  for  the  improvement  of  social  and  living  conditions 
in  the  United  States  of  America."  The  methods  by  which 
this  purpose  is  to  be  accomplished  are  left  to  the  trustees, 
who  comprise  some  of  the  foremost  philanthropists  in  the 
country.  Endowments  conceived  with  such  breadth  and 
benignity,  if  used  wisely,  with  sympathy  and  proper  safe- 
guards, may  escape  the  dangers  of  "  the  brutal  power  of 
concentrated  wealth "  which  are  ever  present  in  these  vast 
accumulations. 

The  very  catholicity  and  intelligence  of  these  exceptional 
endowments  suggest  that  what  is  further  needed  is  a  cam- 
paign of  education  in  the  giving  of  charitable  bequests  such 
as  has  been  quietly  carried  on  for  some  years  in  the  sphere 
of  education  by  the  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnae. 
When  every  donor  can  be  persuaded  not  to  impose  any  con- 
dition beyond  a  temporary  period,  —  at  most  twenty-five 
years,  —  and  to  take  the  advice  of  active  charity  workers 
on  the  needs  of  the  time  and  locality,  endowments  may  cease 
to  be  a  burden  and  a  menace. 

1  Fitch,  "  Endowments,"  etc. 


CHAPTEE  XVIL 

PUBLIC   SUBSIDIES   TO   PRIVATE   CHARITIES. 

When  contributions  are  hard  to  get,  when  fairs  and  balls 
no  longer  net  large  sums,  and  when  endowments  are  slow  to 
come,  the  managers  of  private  charities  frequently  turn  to 
the  public  authorities  and  ask  for  a  contribution  from  the 
public  revenues.  On  the  other  hand,  when  State  legislatures 
see  the  annual  appropriation  bills  increasing  too  rapidly, 
and  when  they  see  existing  public  institutions  made  politi- 
cal spoils,  and  the  administration  wasteful  and  inefficient, 
they  are  apt  to  approve  of  giving  a  subsidy  to  some  private 
institution,  instead  of  providing  for  more  public  buildings 
and  more  public  officials. 

-  This  problem  of  granting  or  of  not  granting  public  sub- 
sidies to  private  charitable  corporations  is  analogous  to  the 
problem  of  public  versus  sectarian  schools  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  governmental  control  of  private  business  corporations 
on  the  other  —  allied  to  both  but  identical  with  neither.  It 
is  related  to  the  school  question  not  only  because  the  care  of 
dependent  and  delinquent  children  by  sectarian  institutions 
involves  their  education  in  the  faith  of  a  particular  sect,  but 
because  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  subsidizing  of 
sectarian  charities  has  been  resorted  to  with  the  conscious 
purpose  of  evading  the  laws  that  forbid  public  aid  to  secta- 
rian schools.  It  is  related  to  the  problem  of  governmental 
control  of  private  corporations,  not  only  by  the  fact  that  the 
legal  questions  involved  are  frequently  the  same,  but  by  the 
fact  that  the  methods  used  by  eleemosynary  corporations  to 
secure  public  subsidies  are  often  not  unlike  those  used  by 
money-making  corporations  to  secure  legislative  favors. 

399 


400 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


The  States  most  largely  committed  to  the  subsidy  or  con- 
tract system  are  shown  in  the  following  table :  — 

TABLE   LXVII. 
Subsidies  to  Private  Charities,  1901.* 


States  granting  Largest 
Amounts. 

State 
sudsidies 

GRANTED. 

Other 
State 
Aid. 

Local 
subsidies 

GRANTED. 

Other  Local 
Aid,  Amoitnt 
NOT  reported. 

Vermont 

Connecticut      .... 

New  York 

Pennsylvania    .... 

Maryland 

District  of  Columbia .     . 
North  Carolina      .     .     . 
California 

§54,000 

101,750 

235,000 

5,700,000 

96,000 

35,000 
410,000 

Yes 

$2,000 

24,500 

3,410,000 

153,500 

185,000 

200,000 

6,200 

Yes 
Probably 

Large 
Probably 

♦Condensed  from  Fetter's  table,  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  vol.  vii.,  1901,  No.  3,  p.  363. 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Delaware,  Kansas,  and  Oregon  give  State  aid  in  small 
amounts  ;  and  19  States  give  local  aid  in  small  amounts.  Compare  this  table  with 
Table  LXI.  on  page  293,  of  subsidies  to  children's  institutions  only. 

It  is  seen  from  this  table  that  Pennsylvania,  Xew  York, 
California,  and  the  District  of  Columbia  give  the  largest 
amounts  in  subsidies  to  private  charitable  institutions.  A 
review  of  the  facts  regarding  State  aid  in  these  localities 
will  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  discussion  of  the  advantages 
and  dangers  of  the  system. 

On  Feb.  2,  1893,  while  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
was  sitting  as  town  council  for  the  city  of  AVashington, 
a  member  moved  to  amend  the  appropriation  bill  by  in- 
serting a  proviso  that  almshouse  inmates  or  other  paupers 
and  destitute  persons  who  might  be  a  charge  upon  the  pub- 
lic should  be  turned  over  to  any  private  institution  that 
would  contract  to  provide  for  them  at  10  per  cent  less  than 
they  were  then  costing  the  District.  Senator  Call,  who  in- 
troduced the  amendment,  explained  that  it  was  in  lieu  of 
one  which  had  been  rejected  at  the  previous  session  of  Con- 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES   TO  PRIVATE  CHARITIES.      401 


gress,  whereby  he  had  sought  to  have  $40,000  of  public 
money  given  to  the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  to  enable  them 
to  build  an  addition  to  their  Home  for  the  Aged.  He  de- 
fended the  original  proposal  on  the  ground  that  this  sister- 
hood cared  for  the  aged  poor  better  and  more  cheaply  than 
the  almshouse,  and  that  the  existence  of  their  institution 
had  saved  to  the  taxpayers  of  the  District  in  the  last  twenty 
years  a  sum  believed  to  be  not  less  than  i^300,000.  It  was 
not  a  novel  plea;  for  Congress  had  already  appropriated, 
since  1874,  $55,000  to  aid  the  Home  for  the  Aged  of  the 
Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor ;  and  each  year  the  District  ap- 
propriation bill  had  included  subsidies  for  a  large  number 
of  private  charitable  institutions,  some  of  them  avowedly 
under  sectarian  management.^  How  far  the  tendency  to 
grant  public  subsidies  to  private  charities  had  gone  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  is  in  some  sort  indicated  by  the  follow- 
ing table :  — 

TABLE   LXVIIL,   A. 

District  of  Columbia  Appropriatioxs  for  Public   as   compared 
WITH  Private  Charities,  1880-1892. 


Number  of 
Institutions. 

Appropriation  for  Maintenance. 

ISSO. 

1892. 

1880. 

1892. 

Increase. 

Public     .     .     . 
Private    .     .     . 

Totals  .     .     . 

7 
8 

8 
28 

$78,048.82 
46,500.00 

8119,475.05 
117,630.00 

160% 
253% 

$124,548.82 

8237,105.50 

Appkopbiations  13  Teaes,  1880-1S92. 

Construction. 

Maintenance. 

Constkuction  and 
Maintenance. 

Public 

Private 

Totals 

.$155,130.70 
300,812.53 

81,296,125.95 
840,940.00 

$1,-351,256.65 
1,141,752.53 

.$455,943.23 

$2,137,065.95 

$2,493,009.18 

1 

1  Other  historical  details  in  Folks,  "  Dependeut  .  .  .  Children,"  pp.  135  ff. 


402 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


From  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  amount  given  for 
maintenance  to  private  charitable  institutions  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  period  was  a  little  less  than  one-third  of  the 
whole  amount,  while  at  the  close  of  the  period  it  is  a  little 
less  than  one-half.  The  most  surprising  fact,  however,  is 
that  the  District  had  given  to  private  institutions  nearly 
twice  as  much  money  to  be  used  in  acquiring  real  estate  and 
erecting  buildings  as  it  had  granted  to  its  own  public  insti- 
tutions. Were  we  to  deduct  a  sum  of  $66,900  charged  to  the 
workliouse,  a  purely  correctional  branch  of  the  so-called 
Washington  Asylum,  it  would  appear  that  more  than  three- 
fourths  of  the  money  appropriated  for  permanent  improve- 
ments in  charitable  institutions  was  given  to  private  corpo- 
rations. 

The  appointment  of  a  Board  of  Children's  Guardians  in 
1892,  the  growth  of  a  public  sentiment  against  subsidies  and 
the  creation  of  a  Board  of  Charities  in  1900,  has  resulted  in 
a  gradual,  if  not  very  rapid,  decrease  of  public  subsidies,  as 
shown  by  the  following  statement :  — 

TABLE   LXVIII.,   B. 

District  of  Columbia  :   Appropriation  for  Public  as  compared 
WITH  Private  Charities,  1900-1906.* 


Number 

OF 

Institutions. 

Appropriations 

FOR 

Maintenance. 

Appropriations 
FOR  Buildings 
and  Grounds. 

1900. 

1906. 

1900. 

1906. 

1893-1906. 

Public 
Private 

8 
23 

11 
20 

$350,000 
153,000 

$623,000 
149,00 

•11,156,000 
392,000 

*  MacFarland,  N.  C.  C,  1900,  pp.  231-232. 

Comparing  this  with  Table  LXVIII.,  A,  it  appears  that  in 
proportion  as  subsidies  have  been  withdrawn,  public  institu- 
tions have  increased  in  number  and  have  received  far  more 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES   TO  PRIVATE  CHABITIES.      403 

adequate  appropriations  for  maintenance  and  improvements. 
The  greater  part  of  the  subsidies  to  private  charities  is  now 
given  in  the  form  of  a  specific  payment  for  a  specific  service 
mider  contract  with  the  public  authorities.  Under  this 
modified  system,  it  is  claimed  that  control  and  accountabil- 
ity are  secured,  thus  removing  some  of  the  most  objectionable 
characteristics  of  the  lump-sum  system  of  subsidies. 

The  tendency  of  public  subsidies  to  increase  rapidly  — 
although  usually  granted  in  the  first  place  on  the  ground  of 
economy  —  and  of  subsidized  charities  to  multipl}'  at  the 
expense  of  public  institutions,  is  illustrated  by  the  experi- 
ence of  Pennsylvania.  Table  LXIX.  shows  the  appropriar 
tions  to  both  classes  of  institutions  for  a  period  of  fifty-five 
years. 

TABLE  LXIX.* 


Appropriations  to  Public  and  Private  Charities  in  Pennsyl- 
vania,  1850-1905. 


Yeak. 

Public  Charities. 

Private  Charities. 

All  Charities. 

Appropria- 
tions. 

No.  of 
Institu- 
tions. 

Subsidies. 

No.  of 
In.stitu- 

tions. 

Total  Appro- 
priations. 

Total 
Institu- 
tions. 

1850 

$69,000 

3 

$66,000 

4 

$135,000 

7 

1855 

59,000 

4 

56,000 

5 

115,000 

9 

1860 

139,000 

4 

116,000 

6 

255,000 

10 

1865 

123,000 

4 

227,000 

26 

350,000 

30 

1870 

222,000 

5 

173,000 

10 

395,000 

15 

1875* 

413,000 

8 

275,000 

13 

688,000 

21 

]880 

468,000 

8 

171,000 

8 

629,000 

16 

1885 

650,000 

11 

378,000 

22 

1,028,000 

33 

1890 

755,000 

9 

822,000 

52 

1,577,000 

61 

1895 

1,097,000 

15 

1,248,000 

95 

2,345,000 

110 

1900 

1,430,000 

15 

1,149,000 

129 

2,579,000 

196 

1905 

2,336,000 

20 

2,328,000 

176 

4,664,000 

196 

*  Boyle,  "Fifty  Tears,"  etc.  (pamphlet),  1905;   table  reprinted  in  Charities,  etc., 
vol.  xii.,  1905,  p.  561. 


404  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Under  the  Pennsylvania  system,  subsidies  are  voted  in 
lump  sums  for  "  maintenance  "  and  "  buildings,"  but  the 
buildings  when  erected  do  not  belong  to  the  State  but  to 
private  boards  on  which  the  State  is  not  represented. 
Moreover,  the  amounts  given  have  no  relation  to  the  num- 
ber of  persons  cared  for,  nor  to  the  amount  of  private  sub- 
scriptions received.  Private  giving  is  thus  discouraged, 
and  the  development  of  private  charities  is  determined  by 
the  subsidies  obtainable  rather  than  by  the  needs  of  the 
community.  With  charitable  budgets  approaching  five  mil- 
lion dollars  in  1905,  Pennsylvania,  an  old  and  rich  State,  was 
enlarging  her  accommodations  for  the  insane  with  cheap, 
temporary  one-story  buildings,  had  no  separate  provision 
for  epileptics,  and  no  adequate  provision  for  the  feeble- 
minded. This  neglect  of  State  dependents  is  a  far  greater 
evil  than  the  political  log-rolling  and  favoritism  which 
inevitably  accompany  the  appropriation  of  such  large  sums 
to  private  interests.^ 

The  best-known  and  most  frequently  quoted  example  of 
the  policy  of  subsidies  to  private  charities  is  that  of  New 
York  City.  In  1894,  and  again  in  1899,  the  State  Charities 
Aid  Association  made  a  thorough  analysis  of  the  finances  of 
children's  institutions  especially,  and  in  1899  made  a  num- 
ber of  recommendations  regarding  the  subsidy  policy  to  the 
Comptroller  of  the  city.^  In  1894,  23  institutions  were  re- 
ceiving $1,625,994  from  the  city  for  the  care  of  15,331  chil- 
dren ;  that  is,  they  received  69  per  cent  of  the  total  cost  of 
maintenance  in  subsidies.  In  the  decade  1885-1894,  from 
6  to  13  institutions  received  a  total  sum  of  $631,040  in 
excess  of  the  cost  of  maintenance.  Of  these,  two  received  in 
1894  alone  a  total  grant  of  more  than  $250,000  each.  In 
some  cases,  the  care  of  dependent  children  might  be  thus 
said  to  have  become  a  profitable  business. 

1  Richnioud,  Charities,  vol.  xiv.,  11)05,  pp.  843  ff. 

2  Publication  No.  03,  1894;  No.  74, 18'J9,  State  Charities  Aid  Association. 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES   TO  PRIVATE  CHARITIES.      405 


The   report  made  to  the  Comptroller  in  1899  gives  the 
following  statement :  — 

TABLE   LXX. 

Subsidies  to  Institutions  in  New  York  City,  1899.* 


Institutions  by  Classes. 


Amount  received 


Children's  Institutions  .  .  .  . 
Infants'  and  Foundling  Asylums    . 

Maternity  Hospitals 

Hospitals 

Dispensaries 

Reformatories  for  Women  .  .  . 
General  Relief  Societies    .     .     .     . 

Homes  for  the  Aged 

Corporate  Schools,  Mandatory  .  . 
Institutions  for  Defective  Children 
Miscellaneous 

All  Institutions 


51 
7 
12 
60 
33 
6 
22 
15 
28 
15 
33 


11,665,723 

651,050 

54,823 

271,550 

37,904 

40,604 

19,251 

20,796 

205,000 

206,197 

176,724 


282 


$3,249,624 


*  Publication  No.  73,  1899,  p.  5. 

The  State  Charities  Aid  Association  made  a  number  of 
significant  recommendations  to  the  Comptroller  for  the  regu- 
lation of  public  appropriations  to  private  charities,  of  which 
only  the  briefest  digest  can  be  given  here :  (1)  the  city 
should  make  no  appropriations  for  the  care  of  any  persons 
except  such  as  are  accepted  as  proper  public  charges  by  the 
Department  of  Pablic  Charities  ;  (2)  the  city  should  make  all 
payments  to  children's  institutions  and  hospitals  at  a  per 
capita  rate,  instead  of  in  gross  amounts,  and  the  rate  should 
diminish  as  the  number  of  inmates  increases  ;  (3)  appropria- 
tions to  dispensaries  and  for  relief  of  the  poor  in  their  homes 
should  be  discontinued. 

The  conclusions  of  the  Association's  Committee  as  to  the 
effects  of  the  svibsidy  policy  are  of  historic  importance  :  — 


406  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

"  It  is  our  belief  that,  more  than  any  other  one  cause,  excessive 
appropriations  to  private  charities  in  tliis  city  have  prevented  adequate 
provision  being  made  for  the  public  hospitals  and  almshouses  main- 
tained and  controlled  directly  by  the  city.  These  institutions  are 
obliged  to  care  for  their  inmates  at  a  much  less  per  capita  cost  than 
obtains  in  many  —  and  probably  in  most  —  of  the  private  hospitals  and 
homes  for  the  aged  receiving  public  aid.  While  the  city  has  in  many 
cases,  by  its  generous  appropriations,  relieved  the  managers  of  private 
institutions  from  the  necessity  of  securing  any  private  contributions 
whatever,  the  appropriations  to  its  own  institutions  have  frequently  in 
the  past  been  reduced  to  so  small  an  amount  that  the  buildings  have 
fallen  into  dilapidation  ;  the  heating  systems  have  been  wholly  inade- 
quate ;  the  food  and  clothing  supplies  have  been  insufficient,  and  the 
salaries  have  been  so  low  that  only  the  most  incompetent  and  irrespon- 
sible class  of  caretakers  could  be  secured.  The  consequences  were 
untold  suffering,  and  the  sacrifice  of  many  lives,  particularly  in  the 
Infants'  Hospital.  .  .  . 

"In  conclusion  we  desire  to  state  that  a  careful  study  of  this  question 
has  convinced  us  that  the  plan  of  granting  public  subsidies  to  private  in- 
stitutions has  inherent  and  grave  dangers  which  it  is  impossible  to 
obviate,  and  that  no  plan  can  be  devised  which  will  insure  wholly  satis- 
factory results.  We  find  that  appropriations  of  public  funds  to  private 
institutions  inevitably  tend  to  diminish  and  discourage  private  charity; 
that  the  system  confuses  the  duties  of  the  public  authorities  and  of 
private  citizens  and  private  organizations,  and  prevents  any  clear 
division  of  the  field  as  between  public  and  private  effort;  that  it  en- 
courages the  growth  of  privately  managed  but  publicly  supported 
charities  to  an  unlimited  and  harmful  extent  ;  that  although  often 
apparently  economical  in  the  beginning,  it  is  always  in  the  long  run 
enormously  expensive  ;  that  it  indirectly  prevents  a  proper  equipment 
and  maintenance  of  the  public  charitable  institutions  ;  and  that  its 
permanent  disadvantages  far  outweigh  any  immediate  and  temporary 
benefits  that  may  be  derived  when  the  system  is  first  established. 

"  So  far  as  children's  institutions  are  concerned,  no  radical  change 
can  be  made  until  some  other  system  has  been  established,  nor  should 
any  be  attempted  until  the  present  efforts  to  regulate  subsidies  has  had 
a  full  and  fair  trial.  If  the  present  efforts  to  exercise  a  rational  and 
proper  control  over  these  subsidies  should  fail,  then  some  other  system 
should  be  adopted.  The  remarkable  success  of  public  systems  of  caring 
for  destitute  children  in  many  States  of  the  Union  afford  every  reason 
for  believing  that  a  satisfactory  system  of  public  care  for  children 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES   TO  PRIVATE  CHARITIES.      407 

could  be  established   in  this  State,    if  such  a  step  should  become 
necessary." 

The  adoption  of  a  system  of  investigation  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Charities  and  of  per  capita  payment  had  an 
immediate  effect  upon  the  amounts  appropriated.  In  1903 
the  amount  voted  for  children's  institutions  constituted  only 
52  per  cent  of  the  total  cost  of  maintenance.  A  rule  that 
acceptance  by  the  Department  is  for  one  year  only  has 
further  decreased  the  number  of  dependent  children ;  and  in 
spite  of  rapid  increase  of  population,  New  York  City  has 
now  fewer  dependent  children  than  it  had  ten  years  ago. 

California  has  a  system  of  subsidies  for  dependent  children 
similar  to  that  of  New  York,  except  that  the  per  capita 
payments  are  exclusively  from  the  State  treasury,  and  there 
is  no  oflBcial  investigation  or  control  of  admissions.  The 
law  provides  that  every  institution  in  the  State  conducted 
for  the  care  of  orphan,  half-orphan,  or  abandoned  children, 
shall  receive  from  the  State  treasury  the  sum  of  $100  for 
each  orphan,  and  $75  per  year  for  each  half-orphan  or 
abandoned  child  under  14.  The  institution,  in  order  to 
qualify  for  this  subsidy,  need  only  have  been  in  operation 
one  year  with  20  inmates.  In  1883  foundlings  were  added 
to  the  list  at  the  rate  of  $12  per  month  until  18  months  old. 
As  a  result  of  this  system,  the  number  of  dependent  children 
has  been  increasing  since  1890  more  than  twice  as  fast  as 
the  population  of  the  State.  Table  LXXI.  (p.  408)  gives  the 
figures  for  a  period  of  years. 

The  growth  and  persistence  of  the  subsidy  system,  particu- 
larly in  caring  for  dependent  children,  is  closely  connected 
with  the  desire  of  different  churches  to  control  their  educa- 
tion in  morals  and  religion.  Of  all  orphanages  and  children's 
homes  in  the  United  States,  45  per  cent  are  under  ecclesias- 
tical control,  and  a  considerable  percentage  of  those  nomi- 
nally non-sectarian  are,  in  fact,  strongly  under  sectarian 
influence.    That  there  is  no  generally  recognized  definition 


408 


AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 


TABLE   LXXI. 

The  Subsidy  Contract  System  in  California. 

1900-1907. 


Number  of 

Total 

Six  Months 
Ending 

Dependent 
Childken. 

Amount  paie 

BY  State. 

Amount  paid 

BY  State 

Each 

Half  Teak. 

As_vlums. 

Counties. 

Asylums. 

Counties. 

June  30,  1900 

5494 

2185 

$178,542.27 

$46,276.16 

$224,818.43 

Dec.  31,  1900 

5684 

2287 

180,713.38 

48,492.34 

229,205.72 

June  30,  1901 

5525 

2428 

181,676.73 

53,186.54 

234,863.27 

Dec.  31,  1901 

5397 

2435 

177,972.10 

54,013.06 

231,985.16 

June  30,  1902 

5519 

2327 

183,224.67 

51,097.52 

234,322.19 

Dec.  31,  1902 

5837 

2565 

185,967.29 

60,376.01 

246,343.30 

June  ;30,  1903 

5883 

2410 

187,268.78 

56,043.04 

243,311.82 

Dec.  31,  1903 

5691 

2336 

177,491.43 

55,050.91 

232,542.34 

June  30,  1904 

5.336 

2051 

175,157.07 

44,861.04 

220,018.11 

Dec.  31,  1904 

5370 

2182 

166,450.84 

50,466.84 

216,917.68 

June  30,  1905 

5215 

2238 

169,903.69 

53,464.82 

223,368.51 

Dec.  31,  1905 

5206 

2206 

171,311.75 

55,127.73 

226,439.48 

June  30,  1906 

5314 

2164 

168,636.85 

54,810.64 

223,447.49 

Dec.  31,  1906 

5189 

2127 

164,438.49 

53,777.25 

218,215.74 

June  30,  1907 

5017 

2057 

161,718.46 

52,428.07 

214,146.53 

of  the  word  "  sectarian  "  is  noteworthy.  There  are  few 
institutions  that  will  admit  its  applicability  to  themselves, 
and  there  are  few  to  which  it  is  not  applied  by  some  one. 
Many  institutions  having  no  trace  of  sectarianism  in  charter, 
constitution,  or  by-laws  are  yet  administered  in  the  in- 
terests of  a  sect.  A  willingness  to  admit  beneficiaries 
of  all  denominations  is  frequently  less  an  evidence  of 
non-sectarianism  than  of  a  tendency  to  make  proselytes. 
jNfuch  might  be  said  in  favor  of  the  idea  that  all  private 
institutions  are  sectarian,  when  not  in  a  religious  then 
in  a  medical  or  social  sense.  Public  aid  to  a  hospital 
may  help  to  build  up  a  medical  school  or  a  school  of 
medicine  just  as  surely  as  aid  to  an  infant  asylum  may 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES   TO  PBIVATE  CHABlTlES.      409 

be  used  to  build  up  a  church,  and  social  rivalries  may 
stimulate  people  in  pushing  charities  just  as  much  as 
interdenominational  competition. 

In  States  where  a  constitutional  limitation  forbids  the 
voting  of  public  money  to  "  sectarian  "  institutions,  mem- 
bers of  the  Protestant  denominations  often  seek  to  have 
this  clause  so  interpreted  as  to  exclude  the  institutions 
officered  by  the  Eoman  Catholic  orders,  while  charitable 
enterprises  in  which  they  are  themselves  interested  are 
nominally  unsectarian.  The  Catholics  not  infrequently 
try  to  evade  the  constitutional  limitation  by  disingenuous 
subterfuges ;  and  the  Protestants,  with  characteristic  short- 
sightedness, encourage  such  a  course  by  their  own  eagerness 
to  secure  public  money  for  the  private  institutions  in  which 
they  are  themselves  interested. 

The  fact  that  there  is  a  clear-cut  distinction  between 
public  and  private  charities,  but  none  between  sectarian  and 
non-sectarian  charities,  is  one  that  those  who  oppose  public 
aid  to  sectarian  schools  would  do  well  to  recognize.  Protes- 
tants are  willing  to  tease  legislators  for  public  money  on  be- 
half of  a  hospital  or  an  orphan  asylum  in  which  they  are 
interested,  urging  that  it  is  "  doing  good,"  and  that  it  is 
preventing  crime  and  pauperism,  and  so  saving  money  to  the 
taxpayers.  They  do  not  see  or  will  not  acknowledge  that 
the  same  could  be  said  of  a  parochial  school,  and  that  the 
claim  which  they  set  up  that  their  own  institution  is 
"  non-sectarian "  is  equivocal  and  unfair,  and  one  which 
in  practice  the  courts  have  never  been  able  to  make  defi- 
nite. 

A  tendency  could  hardly  have  gone  as  far  as  that  of 
granting  public  subsidies  to  private  charities,  unless  there 
were  many  considerations  either  apparent  or  real  of  great 
force  in  its  favor.  As  favoring  this  policy,  the  consideration 
which  is  first  and  foremost  in  the  minds  of  "  practical "  peo- 
ple is  the  matter  of  economy.   Especially  where  the  number 


410  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

of  dependents  in  a  given  class  is  small,  it  is  cheaper  to  hire 
them  cared  for  than  to  establish  an  institution  for  them. 
This  is  the  reason  that  in  most  small  towns  a  private  hospital 
is  subsidized  instead  of  one  being  erected  at  public  expense ; 
but,  when  we  find  a  great  city  like  Brooklyn  depending  en- 
tirely on  subsidized  hospitals  for  the  care  of  its  sick  poor, 
this  argument  is  inapplicable.  Economy,  however,  may 
result  from  other  causes,  as  when  the  private  institutions  are 
administered  by  religious  orders,  the  members  of  which  re- 
ceive no  pay  except  their  support.  In  almost  every  branch 
of  philanthropic  work  Roman  Catholic  institutions  can  un- 
derbid competitors,  so  to  speak,  because  of  the  great  organi- 
zations of  teachers  and  nurses  and  administrators  whose 
gratuitous  services  they  can  command;  and  if  the  State  is 
to  sublet  its  relief  on  the  contract  system,  it  is  hard  to  see 
why  those  who  can  bid  low  should  not  get  the  con- 
tracts. 

In  reformatory  institutions,  those  under  private  manage- 
ment have  an  economic  advantage  over  those  managed  by 
public  officials  in  that  the  former  are  able  to  keep  the  in- 
mates busy  at  remunerative  employment  with  less  opposi- 
tion from  trade  organizations.  A  public  reformatory  for 
girls  that  should  keep  its  inmates  busy  with  work  from  a 
great  shirt  factory  would  be  sure  to  be  attacked  on  the 
ground  of  its  competing  with  poor  sewing  women  ;  but  such 
employment  in  private  institutions,  even  those  receiving 
public  subsidies,  is  quite  common.  Even  in  institutions 
not  officered  by  members  of  a  religious  order,  the  salaries 
are  apt  to  be  lower  and  all  the  items  of  expense  to  be  more 
closely  scrutinized  than  in  a  public  institution.  Add  to  all 
this  the  fact  that  frequently  private  contributors  aid  in  the 
support  of  a  private  institution,  and  we  see  how  great  may 
be  its  advantage  on  the  side  of  economy.  To  the  real  econ- 
omies of  this  method  of  operation  should  be  added  the 
apparent  economies  when  a  private  institution  is  willing  to 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES  TO  PEIVATE  CHARITIES.      411 

make  a  very  low  bid,  to  make  great  temporary  sacrifices, 
in  order  to  get  the  subsidy  system  introduced  —  in  order  to 
establish  connections  between  itself  and  the  public  treasury. 
"  At  first,"  said  a  United  States  senator,  speaking  of  the 
charities  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  "  at  first  they  thrust 
in  only  the  nose  of  the  camel." 

Secondly,  it  is  urged  that  private  institutions,  especially 
those  for  dependent  and  delinquent  children,  have  a  better 
effect  upon  the  inmates  than  can  public  institutions.'  For 
one  thing,  dogmatic  religious  instruction  can  be  given.  For 
another,  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  that  pervades  a  private 
institution  has  a  good  effect  upon  the  inmates,  and  is  con- 
trasted with  the  cold  and  officialized  administration  of 
the  public  institutions.  Connected  with  this,  as  also  with 
the  matter  of  economy,  is  the  fact  that  boards  of  trustees 
and  of  lady  managers  and  visitors  give  freely  of  their  time 
and  energy  and  sympathy  in  aid  of  private  undertakings. 

Thirdly,  it  is  urged  that,  by  subsidizing  private  institu- 
tions, we  free  them  from  the  blight  of  partisan  politics  and 
the  spoils  system.  The  miserable  political  jobbery  con- 
nected with  so  many  almshouses  and  insane  asylums  and 
other  public  charitable  institutions  is  pointed  out,  and  it 
seems  necessary  to  shield  as  many  as  possible  of  the  State's 
dependents  from  similar  evils. 

A  fourth  consideration  is,  that  by  means  of  subsidies  we 
aid  the  poor  without  attaching  to  them  the  stigma  of  pau- 
perism. A  home  for  the  aged  is  more  respectable  than  an 
almshouse,  and  a  private  protectory  or  industrial  school  is 
supposed  not  to  discredit  the  inmates  as  much  as  a  public 
reform  school. 

But  this  consideration  brings  us  to  a  turning-point,  for  it 
is  urged  against  such  subsidies  as  well  as  in  favor  of  them. 
It  is  said  that  private  institutions  receiving  public  money 
promote  pauperism  by  disguising  it.  Children  who  would 
support  aged  parents  rather  than  allow  them  to  go  to  the 


412  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

almshouse  desert  them  promptly  when  some  provision  is 
made  for  them  that  is  ostensibly  more  honorable.  An  illus- 
tration is  afforded  by  the  case  of  an  abandoned  woman  who 
supported  her  mother  for  years  rather  than  permit  her  to 
go  to  the  poorhouse,  but  who  was  trying  all  the  while  to  get 
her  admitted  to  a  "private"  home  for  the  aged.  Parents 
unload  their  children  upon  the  community  more  recklessly 
when  they  know  that  such  children  will  be  provided  for  in 
private  orphan  asylums  or  protectories,  where  the  religious 
training  that  they  prefer  will  be  given  them. 

And  thus  we  reach  the  first  great  objection  to  granting 
public  subsidies  to  private  charities.  While  it  may  be  cheaper 
to  provide  thus  for  each  dependent  during  a  year,  yet  the 
number  of  dependents  increases  so  rapidly  that  eventually 
the  charge  upon  the  public  is  greater  than  if  the  alternative 
policy  were  pursued.  The  results  are  most  astounding, 
where,  as  in  the  case  of  dependent  children  in  California, 
the  managers  of  each  institution  are  free  to  admit  children 
and  have  them  charged  to  the  community.  When  the 
present  law  was  being  debated  in  the  California  Senate,  it 
was  estimated  that  the  cost  could  never  exceed  $30,000  a 
year,  yet  since  then,  according  to  Professor  Frank  A.  Fetter, 

"  It  has  reached  nearly  a  half  a  million  annually,  has  almost  killed 
any  efforts  to  place  the  children  in  family  homes,  has  in  a  large 
measure  demoralized  many  families  whose  children  are  thus  supported, 
and  has  acted  unfavorably  upon  the  spirit  and  motive  of  many  of  the 
charitable  societies  themselves."  i 

In  New  York  City  in  1894  there  was  1  dependent 
child  to  each  117  of  the  population  as  compared  with  1  to 
206  in  London,  and  1  to  856  in  Boston.  In  1904,  with 
the  modified  and  greatly  improved  contract  subsidy  system, 
the  burden  of  New  York  remains  far  in  excess  of  that  of 
States  having  other  systems.^ 

Where   public  officials  alone   have   the  right  to  commit 
1  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  I'JOl,  vol.  iii.,  p.  378.  2  p.  400,  ante. 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES   TO  PRIVATE  CHARITIES.      413 

dependents  to  the  subsidized  institutions,  a  check  is  put 
upon  reckless  admissions.  But  even  under  this  system 
there  is  danger  that  many  will  be  charged  to  the  public  who 
would  never  have  sought  admission  to  a  public  institution. 

In  Illinois  the  constitution  forbids  public  grants  to  sec- 
tarian institutions ;  but  a  law  was  framed  providing  that  a 
county  court  might  adjudge  a  girl  to  be  a  dependent,  commit 
her  to  an  industrial  school,  and  that  school  should  then  be 
entitled  to  receive  $10  a  month  for  her  "tuition,  care, 
and  maintenance,"  besides  an  allowance  for  clothing.  After 
the  passage  of  this  act  the  Chicago  Industrial  School  for 
Girls  was  incorporated.  Of  the  nine  incorporators  and 
directors,  seven  were  officers  and  managers  of  the  House  of 
the  Good  Shepherd ;  and  all  the  girls  committed  under  the 
act  to  the  Chicago  Industrial  School  for  Girls  were  placed 
either  in  the  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd  or  in  St.  Joseph's 
Orphan  Asylum.  Questions  as  to  the  legality  of  such  an 
arrangement  brought  the  matter  into  court ;  and  during  the 
trial  it  transpired  that  about  seventy-three  girls  who  were 
committed  to  the  Chicago  Industrial  School  for  Girls  by 
the  county  court  were  already  in  the  House  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  and  St.  Joseph's  Orphan  Asylum  at  the  time 
of  such  commitments.  "  In  other  words,  being  already  in- 
mates of  the  institutions,  they  were  taken  to  the  county 
court  and  adjudged  to  be  dependent  girls,  and  at  once  re- 
turned to  those  institutions,  and  thereafter  the  county  was 
charged  with  f  10  per  month  for  tuition  for  each  of  them, 
and  $15  or  $20  or  $25  for  clothing  for  each  of  them."  The 
courts  at  first  decided  that  the  Chicago  Industrial  School 
was  a  "  sectarian  "  institution,  and  the  payment  of  the  money 
therefore  illegal ;  but  the  institution  later  found  a  way  to 
evade  the  constitutional  limitation.  This  is  a  very  good 
example  of  the  unsubstantial  nature  of  the  barrier  which 
such  a  constitutional  limitation  forms. 

In  the  second  place,  the  argument  from  economy,  in  sup- 


414  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

port  of  the  subsidy  system,  is  negatived  by  the  fact  that 
under  this  system  there  must  be  so  many  duplicate  institu- 
tions. In  Maryland,  for  instance,  there  are  two  reforma- 
tories for  boys  within  a  mile  of  each  other,  and  two  for  girls, 
both  in  Baltimore.  Catholics  manage  one  pair  of  institu- 
tions, and  private  Protestant  corporations  the  other.  In 
Baltimore  alone  there  are  thirty  orphanages  and  homes  for 
children  under  private,  generally  sectarian,  management, 
two-thirds  of  which  received  subsidies  in  1903.^ 

Many  charitable  institutions  have  been  established  less 
from  brotherly  love  than  from  a  quarrel  in  the  board  of 
managers  in  an  older  institution.  This,  together  with  the 
influence  of  individual  ambitions,  has  led  especially  to  the 
establishment  of  a  great  number  of  medical  charities.  When 
the  public  begins  to  grant  such  favors,  it  is  hard  to  draw  a 
line.  As  a  United  States  senator  once  said,  in  speaking  of 
the  situation  in  the  District :  — 

"  The  very  fact  that  Congress  makes  these  appropriations  has  caused, 
to  a  great  degree,  the  multiplication  of  the  organizations.  A  few 
people  getting  together  who  are  desirous  of  doing  charitable  work,  or 
who  have  discovered  some  special  need,  or  who  are  dissatisfied  with 
some  feature  of  some  existing  institution,  instead  of  adding  to  or  modi- 
fying such  an  institution,  will  start  a  new  one,  because  they  can  appeal 
directly  to  Congress  for  the  money  necessary  to  begin  it,  and  can  base 
their  claim  on  the  ground  that  they  are  just  as  good  as  some  other  as- 
sociation already  on  the  list." 

Again,  the  subsidy  system  proves  extravagant  in  that  it 
tends  to  dry  up  the  sources  of  private  benevolence.  Indi- 
vidual contributors  dislike  to  have  their  mites  lost  in  the 
abundance  of  a  public  appropriation.  Almost  without  ex- 
ception those  institutions  that  have  received  public  aid  the 
longest  and  the  most  constantly  receive  least  from  private 
contributors.  In  looking  up  the  history  of  a  considerable 
number  of  institutions,  it  was  found  that,  after  the  public 

1  Census,  "  Benevolent  Institutious,"  1904,  p.  79. 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES   TO  PRIVATE  CHARITIES.      415 

became  a  contributor,  private  contributions  fell  off  from 
year  to  year,  not  only  relatively  but  absolutely,  and  in  some 
cases  ceased  altogether. 

Even  wbere  the  contract  subsidy  system  exists,  it  oper- 
ates to  keep  the  dependent  in  the  institution  unnecessarily 
long,  and  is  therefore  uneconomical.  In  1894  of  8000  de- 
pendent children  about  whom  the  facts  were  ascertained, 
23  per  cent  had  been  held  as  public  charges  from  five  to 
fourteen  years. ^  When  the  placing-out  of  a  child  or  the 
discharge  of  an  inmate  actually  involves  the  loss  of  $75  to 
$110  per  year,  the  managers  will  naturally  hesitate. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  by  Professor  Fetter  that  under 
this  system  it  is  impossible  to  unify  and  systematize  the 
public  charities  ;  hospital  appliances  will  be  duplicated, 
beds  will  be  empty  in  the  public  hospitals  while  private  in- 
stitutions are  receiving  pay  for  public  patients;  and  matern- 
ity hospitals  will  be  multiplied  for  the  sake  of  clinical  and 
teaching  purposes  without  reference  to  the  public  need.^ 

A  third  reason  for  objecting  to  the  subsidies  we  are  con- 
sidering is,  that  when  voting  upon  them  the  legislator  must 
resist  special  pressure.  He  has  not  a  clear-cut  issue  of  a 
given  service  to  be  rendered,  balanced  by  a  given  expenditure, 
but  it  becomes  partly  a  question  of  offending  or  favor- 
ing some  sect  or  nationality.  The  contention  that  the  sub- 
sidy system  takes  the  charitable  institutions  out  of  politics 
is  not  supported  by  experience.  On  the  contrary,  it  drags 
them  into  politics  in  a  new  and  unfortunate  way,  —  in  a 
way  that  is  found  in  practice  to  give  great  scope  to  log- 
rolling and  kindred  expedients.  Some  who  will  not  do  any- 
thing else  for  a  charitable  institution  are  willing  to  bully  a 
legislator  on  its  behalf.  Most  of  the  lobbyists  are  sincere 
even  to  fanaticism,  but  their  view  of  the  situation  is  terribly 
one-sided.     It  had  come  to  pass  that  when  the  District  of 

1  No.  63,  State  Charities  Aid  Association,  pp.  4-5. 

2  Eeport  of  the  Controller  of  the  City  of  New  York,  1899,  pp.  14,  15. 


416  AMERICAN  CHAEITtES. 

Columbia  appropriation  bill  was  under  consideration,  and 
in  the  haste  of  the  last  days  of  the  session,  the  Congres- 
sional committee  rooms  would  be  full  of  the  representatives 
of  the  various  charities,  both  men  and  women,  intent  upon 
getting  the  largest  share  possible.  There  was  neither  time, 
nor  ability,  nor  opportunity  on  the  part  of  the  committee  to 
come  to  any  intelligent  conclusion.  Often  those  applicants 
most  skilled  or  most  personally  attractive  were  most  success- 
ful, and  sometimes  the  committees  were  obliged  to  average 
their  gif ts.^  After  such  a  policy  has  been  entered  upon,  it  can- 
not be  altered  without  injury  to  great  vested  interests,  and 
without  giving  offence  to  large  and  powerful  constituencies. 

One  of  the  most  unfortunate  results  of  subsidizing  private 
charities  is  that  the  patrons  and  friends  of  those  charities 
are  set  in  opposition  to  general  measures  of  social  reform. 
Professor  Fetter  quotes  the  well-known  fact  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  State  Boards  of  Charities  has  been  almost  in- 
variably opposed  by  subsidized  charities.  In  California, 
during  more  than  a  decade  of  agitation  which  was  required 
to  establish  a  State  Board  of  Charities,  it  was  opposed  by 
the  subsidized  orphan  asylums  for  fear  their  subsidies  might 
be  curtailed.  Moreover,  under  the  subsidy  system  the 
trustees  and  friends  of  these  institutions  must  beg  favors 
from  political  leaders.  In  Pennsylvania  this  fund  has  be- 
come a  great  corruption  fund  and  the  philanthropy  which 
shares  in  the  spoils  must  necessarily  be  silent.- 

This  brings  us  to  a  fifth  reason  for  objecting  to  the  grant- 
ing of  public  subsidies  to  private  charities.  It  frequently 
does  positive  harm  to  a  charitable  institution,  and  some- 
times wholly  destroys  its  usefulness.  A  private  institu- 
tion that  receives  no  public  money  is  not  only  freer  in  all 
its  operations,  and  more  highly  valued  by  those  who  sustain 

1  The  conditions  of  charity  lobbying  iu  Pennsylvania  have  been  pre- 
cisely similar  in  recent  years. 

2  Professor  Fetter  presents  this  argument  finely  in  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc, 
vol.  vii.,  No.  3, 1901,  pp.  372  ff. 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES   TO  PRIVATE  CHABITIES.      417 

and  manage  it,  but  its  beneficiaries  feel  differently  toward 
their  benefactors.  When  visiting  one  subsidized  institution 
the  request  was  made  that  nothing  should  be  said  before 
the  inmates  that  would  inform  them  that  the  institution  re- 
ceived any  public  money.  One  could  understand  the  wish, 
and  presume  that  the  inmates  would  work  more  faithfully, 
be  more  grateful  for  favors  received,  and  finally  "  turn  out 
better,"  because  they  were  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  fact. 
Yet  we  may  doubt  the  possibility  or  propriety  of  thus  using 
public  money,  and  at  the  same  time  trying  to  conceal  the 
fact  of  doing  so.  By  no  hocus-pocus  of  subsidy-granting  can 
we  make  taxation  do  the  work  of  self-sacrifice. 

In  most  instances  States  and  municipalities  have  entered 
upon  this  policy  of  subsidizing  private  charities  without  de- 
ciding to  do  so,  and  even  without  perceiving  that  a  decision 
was  called  for.  Each  request  for  a  subsidy  has  been  treated 
as  a  inatter  of  administrative  detail,  involving  no  principle, 
and  not  significant  as  a  precedent.  The  resultant  system 
is  about  as  business-like  as  though  a  city  should  try  to  get 
its  streets  paved  by  announcing  that  any  regularly  incorpo- 
rated association  that  should  pave  a  given  number  of  square 
yards  of  street  —  location,  time,  and  method  to  be  decided 
by  itself  —  should  receive  a  given  amount  from  the  public 
treasury.  It  is  as  though  private  associations  were  allowed 
to  do  paving  at  their  own  discretion,  and  then,  on  coming  to 
the  legislature  and  teasing  with  sufficient  skill  and  pertinacity, 
they  should  be  given  subsidies  on  the  general  theory  that 
they  were  "  doing  good  "  and  rendering  '^  public  service." 

In  its  old  form  of  payments  in  gross  amounts,  the  subsidy 
system  must  and  will  be  abolished ;  and  even  the  contract 
subsidy  system  at  its  best  must  be  carefully  regulated. 
First,  on  behalf  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the  taxpayers,  the 
government  must  provide  for  the  thorough  inspection  of 
subsidized  institutions,  and  the  systematic  auditing  of  their 
accounts.     This  work  cannot  be  done  by  grand  juries,  or 


418  AMERICAN  CHAEITIES. 

legislative  committees,  or  ex-officio  inspectors,  who  may 
from  time  to  time  thrust  their  inexperienced  noses  into 
matters  which  they  know  nothing  about.  The  work  of 
inspection  must  be  done  by  some  thoroughly  experienced 
and  otherwise  suitable  administrative  officer,  who  is  defi- 
nitely responsible  for  the  thoroughness  of  his  work.  Sec- 
ond, the  State  must  keep  in  the  hands  of  its  own  officials 
the  right  of  deciding  what  persons  shall  be  admitted  to  the 
benefits  for  which  it  pays,  and  how  long  each  person  may 
continue  to  receive  those  benefits.  If  it  pays  for  beds  in  a 
hospital,  one  of  its  own  officials  should  have  entire  control 
of  admitting  and  discharging  the  patients  cared  for.  This 
is  necessary  in  order  that  "there  may  be  some  gauge  of 
indigency,  and  some  assurance  that  the  gauge  will  be  used." 
Third,  subsidies  should  only  be  granted  on  the  principle  of 
specific  payment  for  specific  work.  When  any  one  of  these 
three  conditions  is  lacking,  the  policy  of  subsidy-granting  is 
necessarily  pernicious. 

The  opinion  of  nearly  all  charity  experts  is  unanimously 
against  it ;  Professor  Fetter,  after  a  thorough  discussion  of 
the  results  in  the  States  which  have  employed  it  for  a 
period  of  years,  concluded  :  — 

"The  logic  of  the  situation  demands  the  abolition  of  the  policy  of 
charity  subsidies.  It  is  a  mediaeval  device.  Formerly  the  line  be- 
tween the  action  of  the  state  and  that  of  private  and  ecclesiastical 
corporations  was  dim.  Public  functions  were  exercised  by  many 
guilds,  societies,  and  church  corporations,  but  the  modern  State  has 
gradually  overtaken  these  functions.  As  a  matter  of  expediency  there 
is  abundant  reason  to  carry  this  change  to  its  logical  end  in  the  com- 
plete separation  of  public  taxation  from  private  charity.  .  .  .  The 
subsidy  method  is  not  a  policy,  it  is  an  accident.  The  strongest  argu- 
ments in  its  favor  are  merely  negative  —  that  it  should  be  kept  because 
we  have  it.  .  .  .  Nowhere  is  there  any  effective  sentiment  favorable 
to  the  extension  of  subsidies  ...  in  fact,  the  advocates  of  subsidies 
are  entirely  on  the  defensive.  Within  the  last  few  years  they  have 
distinctly  lost  ground  in  the  older  States."  ^ 

1  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  vol.  vii.,  No.  3,  ]!K)],  pp.  384-385. 


PUBLIC  SUBSIDIES   TO  PRIVATE  CHARITIES.      419 

All  that  can  be  said  against  subsidies  in  general  can  be 
said  against  this  form  of  subsidies,  and  more  ;  because  here 
we  have  to  deal  with  religious,  medical,  and  social  sectarian- 
ism, and  because  we  are  giving  over  the  defenceless  to  the 
care  of  the  irresponsible.  As  a  transition  policy  for  grow- 
ing communities,  or  for  new  and  developing  varieties  of 
benevolent  work,  it  may  possibl}'  have  had  its  place  ;  but 
it  should  not  now  be  entered  upon  inadvertently,  for  while 
all  its  advantages  and  economies  are  greatest  at  the  begin- 
ning, its  disadvantages  and  dangers  constantly  increase  as 
time  goes  on.  Those  who  would  entirely  avoid  establishing 
any  precedent  whatever  for  the  voting  of  public  money  to 
private  schools  can  take  properly  but  one  course,  a  consist- 
ent opposition  to  any  and  all  public  subsidies  to  private 
charities. 


PART    IV. 

THE  SUPERVISION,  ORGANIZATION,  AND 
BETTERMENT  OF  CHARITIES. 


PART    lY. 

THE   SUPERVISION.   ORGANIZATION,   AND   BET- 
TERMENT   OF    CHARITIES. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 
AGENCIES   FOR   SUPERVISION    AND    CONTROL. 

One  who  has  read  the  chapters  of  Part  III.  may  have 
thought  that  they  were  largely  occupied  with  telling  how 
things  should  not  be  done,  —  with  locating  pitfalls  rather 
than  with  mapping  safe  highways.  It  is  not  intended,  how- 
ever, to  give  any  dark  view  of  the  possibilities  of  work  for 
the  relief  of  the  poor  by  public,  private,  or  endowed  chari- 
ties. If  the  map  of  the  field  shows  difficulties,  it  is  only 
because  the  difficulties  are  there,  and  an  accurate  map  must 
show  them.  It  is  not  a  pleasant  task  to  indicate  where  the 
pitfall  is,  but  it  is  much  better  than  to  allow  the  traveller 
to  find  it  through  accident.  It  is  next  in  order,  however, 
to  indicate  the  methods  by  which  improvements  are  and 
may  be  introduced,  and  by  which  it  may  be  brought  about 
that  benevolence  shall  be  more  constantly  beneficent. 

The  charities  of  a  given  locality  at  a  certain  stage  of 
development  are  a  chaos,  a  patchwork  of  survivals,  or  prod- 
ucts of  contending  political,  religious,  and  medical  fac- 
tions ;  a  curious  compound,  in  which  there  is  a  strong 
ingredient  of  ignorance  perpetuated  by  heedlessness.  In- 
dividually they  have  originated  as  needs  arose,  or  were 
supposed  to  have  arisen,  in  small  communities,  and  often 
in  ignorance  of  what  was  being  done  elsewhere.  This  has 
given  them  a  sufficient  degree  of  local  coordination,  but  has 

423 


424  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

left  them  without  the  stimulus  of  cooperation  in  larger 
charity  movements. 

The  history  of  particular  lines  of  charity  shows  that  local 
public  charities  are  often  organized  without  auy  thought  of 
how  they  should  develop.  Like  Topsy,  they  simply  "  grow." 
Public  outdoor  relief  is  frequently  the  casual  work  of 
county  supervisors  to  whom  the  position  of  supervisor  comes 
as  an  incident  in  the  performance  of  more  important  po- 
litical or  business  functions.  The  almshouse  is  an  institution 
to  be  favored  or  neglected,  according  as  its  superintendent 
has  or  has  not  a  political  "  pull."  The  insane  are  in  alms- 
houses or  jails,  according  as  provision  has  or  has  not  been 
made  for  them  by  the  State,  and  are  taken  care  of  as  the 
personal  characteristics  of  the  different  sheriffs  or  su- 
perintendents of  the  almshouse  may  determine.  Dependent 
children  are  neglected  by  public  officials  or  striven  for  by 
denominational  organizations,  and  the  other  needy  classes 
are  treated  or  not,  according  as  the  contending  influence  of 
self-sacrifice  and  of  selfishness  in  many  forms,  work  out 
their  good  or  bad  results. 

Even  far-reaching  systems  of  State  care  are  established 
with  superficial  knowledge  of  the  needs  of  the  class  to  be 
provided  for,  and  with  no  consideration  of  their  ultimate 
results.  Busy  legislators  pass  laws  regarding  charities  heed- 
lessly, or  heedlessly  refuse  to  pass  them.  Systems  of  care 
for  the  insane  or  for  other  defective  classes  are  entered  upon 
and  partially  inaugurated,  and  then,  with  or  without  reason, 
abandoned.  In  the  institutions  themselves  there  is  a  pos- 
sibility of  mismanagement  through  individual  bad  character 
or  lack  of  sense  on  the  part  of  the  officers.  Moreover,  each 
manager  of  an  individual  institution  is  so  interested  in  se- 
curing additions  that  are  needed,  or  a  new  water  supply,  or 
something  else  that  costs  money,  that  he  is  very  likely  to 
neglect  to  examine  the  conditions  upon  which  dependents 
are  admitted,  or  to  take  any  wide  view  of  the  purpose  of 


AGENCIES  FOB   SUPERVISION  AND   CONTROL.      425 

his  institution  and  the  extent  to  which  it  is  fulfilling  that 
purpose. 

It  is  evident  that  in  order  to  overcome  the  confusion, 
overlapping,  wastefulness,  and  perhaps  the  inhumanity 
even,  of  this  lack  of  system,  some  method  must  be  devised 
of  coordinating  the  efforts  of  all  the  charities  of  a  given 
State.  There  must  be  some  power  outside  of  them  which 
is  interested  not  only  in  the  details  of  their  administration, 
but  in  their  general  plan  and  purpose.  As  a  man  cannot 
supervise  himself  with  satisfactory  results  to  the  public,  so 
an  institution  frequently  does  not  understand  its  proper 
relation  to  others  at  work  in  the  same  field. 

Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Civil  War,  there  was  a 
movement  in  some  of  the  older  and  wealthier  States  to  estab- 
lish public  supervisory  agencies  known  as  State  Boards  of 
Charities.  This  was  part  of  the  general  tendency  to  amplify 
and  improve  the  administrative  machinery  of  our  State  gov- 
ernments by  the  creation  of  boards  or  commissions  for  the 
care  of  the  public  health,  and  for  the  collection  of  statistics 
regarding  labor.^  The  first  board  for  the  supervision  of 
charities  was  established  in  Massachusetts  in  1863,  and  Ohio 
and  New  York  followed  with  similar  boards  in  1867.  Illi- 
nois, Pennsylvania,  and  Rhode  Island  established  boards  in 
1869.  In  1907  there  were  21  supervisory  boards  of  chari- 
ties and  correction,  and  12  boards  of  administrative  control, 
in  the  United  States. 

In  the  main,  these  State  Boards  ^  are  of  two  general  types, 
one  having  powers  of  supervision  and  report  only,  and  the 

1  Willoughby,  "  State  Activities  aud  Politics,"  Papers  American  His- 
torical Association,  vol.  v.,  1891. 

2  The  name  Board  of  Charities  formerly  meant  a  board  with  super- 
visory powers  only;  but  some  boards  have  acquired  powers  of  control 
without  changing  their  names.  The  name  as  generally  used,  however, 
still  means  a  board  of  supervision.  An  attempt  to  avoid  confusion  has 
been  made  by  using  Board  of  Supervision  instead  of  Charities,  wherever 
possible. 


426  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

other  having  powers  of  control  over  the  charitable  institu- 
tions of  the  State.  Typical  boards  of  control  are  now  found 
in  Rhode  Island,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  and  other  States. 
They  are  usually  made  up  of  salaried  members,  limited  in 
number, — usually  not  more  than  six, — who  are  the  trus- 
tees of  the  public  charitable  institutions  and  who  have 
extensive  executive  power.  They  are  charged  with  the 
maintenance,  government,  and  direct  supervision  of  State  in- 
stitutions, appoint  their  superintendents  or  wardens,  and 
generally  purchase  all  staple  supplies. 

Boards  of  Supervision  are  usually  composed  of  honor 
officers.  The  number  is  sometimes  considerable,  as  in  the 
case  of  New  York,  where  one  member  is  appointed  from 
each  judicial  district  in  the  State.  These  unsalaried  boards, 
with  powers  of  supervision  and  report  only,  are  necessarily 
made  up  of  persons  willing  to  give  to  the  work  a  consider- 
able amount  of  time  for  no  other  return  than  the  possible 
payment  of  their  expenses.  Each  board,  as  a  rule,  appoints 
a  salaried  secretary  who  is  a  permanent  officer,  or  should 
be  permanent,  and  who  attends  to  the  routine  work  of  the 
office.  These  secretaries  of  State  Boards  of  Charities  were 
the  moving  force  in  organizing  the  National  Conference  of 
Charities,  and  many  of  them  are  as  eminent  specialists  as 
this  country  has  produced. 

These  unsalaried  boards,  having  no  patronage  to  bestow, 
are  usually  not  under  political  control.  This  condition  has 
occasionally  led  politicians  to  substitute  a  Board  of  Control, 
or  to  attempt  to  alter  the  character  of  the  supervisory  board 
so  as  to  obtain  the  power  of  appointment  of  employees. 
Such  an  attempt  made  by  the  Governor  of  New  York  in 
1901  was  defeated  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  dangerous 
and  insidious  effort  to  centralize  all  the  State  charitable  and 
refornuxtory  institutions  under  political  control.^  As  a  rule, 
however,  there  is  "  not  enough  in  it "  to  induce  politicians  to 
1  Stewart,  N.  C.  C,  1907,  p.  27. 


AGENCIES  FOR   SUPERVISION  AND   CONTROL.      427 

make  much  of  a  fight  to  secure  control  of  one  of  these  ad- 
visory boards.  They  consequently  have  a  greater  degree  of 
stability,  and  from  this  fact  they  have  a  much  greater  in- 
fluence. Where  officials  are  changing  very  frequently,  as  is 
the  case  with  our  State  legislators,  and  for  the  most  part 
with  our  State  executive  officers,  a  group  of  men  whose 
position  is  relatively  permanent,  and  who  from  year  to  year 
accumulate  experience  and  clarify  their  ideas  as  to  what  is 
necessary,  can  carry  out  plans  of  reform  that  would  be  im- 
possible to  a  rapidly  rotating  board,  even  assuming  that  its 
members  were  of  equal  ability  and  devotion. 

There  is  a  tendency,  however,  to  ingraft  certain  executive 
duties,  such  as  the  removal  of  foreign  paupers  from  the 
State,  as  in  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  and  the  care  of 
certain  classes  of  dependents,  as  in  the  case  of  dependent 
children  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  removal  of  the  insane 
from  hospital  to  hospital  within  the  State,  as  in  Illinois, 
upon  advisory  boards  without  changing  their  general  charac- 
ter. In  some  States,  notably  New  York  and  Massachusetts, 
the  executive  control  has  been  divided  among  several  com- 
missions ;  in  Massachusetts  there  is  a  State  Board  of  Insan- 
ity and  a  Board  of  Prison  Commissioners,  and  in  New  York 
a  State  Commission  of  Lunacy  and  a  State  Commission  of 
Prisons,  in  addition  to  an  Advisory  Board  of  Charities. 

But  over  all  such  executive,  boards  there  should  still 
obtain  the  power  of  an  advisory  board  to  investigate  and 
report  upon  every  charitable  institution  within  the  State. 
Such  a  board  is  much  freer  in  giving  its  opinion  as  to 
needed  changes  than  one  having  executive  powers.  For 
instance,  in  the  matter  of  applying  to  the  legislature  for 
appropriations,  an  executive  board  must  subordinate  every- 
thing to  securing  enough  money  to  carry  the  institution 
through  the  fiscal  period  in  prospect.  They  will  usually 
have  occasion  also  to  make  applications  for  extensions,  and 
increased  appropriations  for  other  purposes.     They  cannot 


428  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

risk  these  important  matters  by  recommending  reforms 
which  might  antagonize  certain  interests,  and  raise  up  for 
them  opponents  in  the  legislature.  A  board  with  powers 
of  supervision  and  report  only  is  not,  on  the  other  hand, 
limited  in  any  of  these  matters.  If  it  sees  a  reform  or  coordi- 
nation possible  in  the  charities  of  the  State,  it  can  recom- 
mend an  improvement,  even  at  the  risk  of  offending 
influential  persons,  and  stand  out  for  specific  reforms  with- 
out endangering  current  appropriations.  Furthermore,  an 
unsalaried  board  is  more  likely  to  stand  well  with  succes- 
sive legislatures  than  a  body  of  men  who  get  their  living 
out  of  the  business  ;  and  their  recommendations  for  increased 
appropriations  in  which  they  have  no  personal  interest  will 
have  more  weight  with  many  legislators  than  the  persistent 
application  of  those  whose  support  comes  from  the  appropri- 
ations that  they  ask  for. 

An  advisory  board  is  a  benefit  to  institutions  as  well  as 
a  check  upon  them  ;  for  it  can  further  their  growth,  and 
stand  as  a  guaranty  of  honest  administration,  which  helps 
them  in  the  opinion  of  the  community.  There  are  two 
reasons  why  all  charitable  institutions,  especially  public  in- 
stitutions, should  be  carefully  supervised  and  reported 
upon :  in  the  first  place,  it  is  for  the  protection  of  the 
beneficiaries  and  the  public  ivoni  abuses  that  may  exist ; 
and  in  the  second  place,  it  is  for  the  protection  of  the  insti- 
tutions and  the  managers  from  unfounded  suspicions.  It 
enables  the  institutions  to  be  above  suspicion,  which  is  out 
of  the  question  unless  there  is  some  disinterested  supervis- 
ory power  over  them,  Avhich  has  the  confidence  of  both 
citizens  and  legislators. 

One  valuable  service  which  has  been  rendered  by  the  State 
Boards  of  Charities  has  been  to  raise  the  standard  of  service 
of  the  county  and  township  charities.  The  managers  of 
small  local  institutions,  especially  in  the  rural  counties,  are 
usually  persons  of  honest  intention,  but  with  very  little  in- 


AGENCIES  FOB   SUPERVISION  AND   CONTROL.      429 

formation  concerning  their  duties.  The  State  board  is  able 
through  visiting,  correspondence,  and  suggestion  to  place  at 
their  disposal  the  hard-earned  experience  of  other  com- 
munities, and  to  make  it  possible  for  them,  without  addi- 
tional expense,  to  do  an  increasingly  satisfactory  work.  In 
the  matter  of  approving  plans  for  county  jails  and  alms- 
houses, which  is  frequently  given  into  the  hands  of  the 
State  board,  the  very  fact  that  the  plans  must  be  submitted 
will  frequently  lead  to  greater  care  in  drawing  them  than 
would  otherwise  be  used.  Many  of  the  State  boards  have 
published,  for  the  guidance  of  county  officials,  designs  of 
the  best  and  most  economical  forms  of  construction  to  be 
used  in  caring  for  the  various  classes  of  dependents.  Some- 
times a  county,  before  building,  sends  a  committee  of  its 
own  officials  travelling  over  the  country  at  public  expense 
to  see  the  best  jails  and  to  get  ideas  on  the  construction  of 
such  edifices. 

But  besides  the  expense  involved  the  wandering  investi- 
gators may  miss  the  most  essential  points  in  what  they 
should  see  and  learn.  The  State  Board  of  Charities,  hav- 
ing representatives  from  year  to  year  in  the  National  Con- 
ference of  Charities,  having  available  in  its  libraries  the 
reports  of  other  boards,  and  the  reports  of  the  various  con- 
ferences ;  having  also  the  experience  of  all  the  counties  of 
the  State  for  its  own  information,  and  a  knowledge  of  what 
is  done  in  distant  cities,  can  frequently,  by  pointing  to 
certain  publications,  or  offering  certain  plans,  give  county 
officials  better  assistance  in  the  construction  and  adminis- 
tration of  charities  than  they  could  get  for  themselves. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  comparative  merits  of  Boards  of 
Supervision  and  Boards  of  Control,  their  relation  to  the 
local  boards  of  trustees  —  often  called  "  local  boards  of  con- 
trol "  —  has  not  been  clearly  distinguished.  In  the  first 
case,  the  local  boards  of  trustees  retain  their  managerial 
powers ;  while  in  the  second,  they  are  superseded  by  the 


430  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

State  Board  of  Control,  which  appoints  the  head  officers  and 
regulates  the  finances  of  the  institutions.  The  unintelligent 
and  unbusiness-like  methods  often  pursued  by  local  trustees 
have  already  been  referred  to.  In  Wisconsin,  the  wasteful 
competition  between  the  trustees  of  the  various  State  insti- 
tutions in  trying  to  secure  appropriations  was  one  of  the 
chief  excuses  for  the  change  in  1901  from  an  advisory  to 
an  executive  board.^  In  Pennsylvania,  in  1905,  the  institu- 
tional lobbyists  were  strong  enough  to  keep  the  recommenda- 
tions of  an  Advisory  Board  of  Charities  from  being  accepted.^ 
Local  boards  are  liable  to  be  influenced  by  local  opinion,  to 
patronize  local  dealers  in  the  purchase  of  supplies,  and  in 
general  to  practise  a  narrow  and  wasteful  policy. 

A  supervisory  board  can  only  remedy  these  defects  by  a 
slow  system  of  public  education,  through  their  visitation  of 
institutions  and  recommendations  to  the  Governor ;  while 
the  Board  of  Control  —  in  Wisconsin  and  Iowa  at  least  — ■ 
has  promptly  introduced  system  and  economy  into  the 
business  management,  and  although  they  have  hundreds  of 
employees  in  the  institutions  which  they  control,  has  kept 
them  entirely  out  of  politics. 

The  arguments  in  favor  of  a  Board  of  Control  may  be 
briefly  summarized:  it  is  economical  and  business-like;  it 
is  more  efficient  than  the  supervisory  board  because  a  few 
salaried  officers  give  their  whole  time  to  administration ;  it 
prevents  too  great  localization  of  management ;  it  relieves 
superintendents  of  a  large  part  of  the  financial  responsibility, 
and  thus  sets  them  free  to  devote  themselves  to  more  im- 
portant duties ;  it  insures  an  equitable  division  of  appropri- 
ations among  institutions ;  it  has  power  to  enforce  its  recom- 
mendations; and,  finally,  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  general 
tendency  toward  centralization  of  social  control.^ 

1  Sparling,  AnnaJ.t,  1001,  No.  62,  p.  77. 

2  Richmond,  Charities,  vol.  xiv.,  pp.  843  ff. 

8  These  points  are  elaborated  in  N.  C.  C,  1902,  p.  148;  1904,  pp.  180  ff. 


AGENCIES  FOR   SUPERVISION  AND   CONTROL.      431 

The  advocates  of  both  forms  of  charity  boards  have  not 
always  clearly  apprehended  the  ends  to  be  accomplished 
by  them.  It  is  conceded  that  all  charities  must  be  con- 
trolled by  trustees  or  by  the  State  in  some  fashion  to  protect 
dependents  and  insure  proper  use  of  funds ;  it  is  also  con- 
ceded that  visitation,  inspection,  and  report,  either  by  a 
private  or  a  public  body  of  citizens,  is  a  necessary  check  on 
executive  boards,  and  one  of  the  best  methods  of  educating 
the  public  in  humanitarian  efforts.  The  real  question  is  not 
therefore  between  supervision  and  control,  —  both  of  which 
are  necessary,  —  but  whether  local  trustees,  plus  a  super- 
visory board,  produce  a  better  administration  than  a  central 
Board  of  Control  which  may  also  exercise  advisory  powers. 
An  obvious  reply  would  be  that  one  might  be  better  adapted 
to  a  particular  State  than  the  other :  as  between  Iowa  with  a 
Board  of  Control  and  Indiana  with  a  Board  of  Supervision, 
Mr.  Amos  W.  Butler  thinks  there  is  little  to  choose  ;  but  as 
between  New  York  with  200,000  persons  under  State  care 
under  a  supervisory  board,  and  Minnesota  with  only  6000 
under  an  executive  board,  Mr.  Kobert  W.  Hebberd  thinks 
the  conditions  are  too  widely  different  to  justify  any  con- 
clusions as  to  the  relative  value  of  methods. 

The  controversy  over  these  two  forms  of  regulation  seems 
likely  gradually  to  settle  itself  by  a  modification  of  both  of 
them ;  in  the  older  States,  where  the  number  of  institutions 
to  be  supervised  is  very  large  and  their  purposes  widely 
different,  a  central  advisory  board  with  local  governing 
boards  was  formerly  the  rule.  But  the  local  boards  dealing 
with  the  same  general  classes  of  dependents  —  as  for  instance 
the  insane,  prisoners,  or  children  —  are  now  being  replaced 
by  Commissions  in  Lunacy,  Commissions  of  Prisons,  and 
Boards  of  Children's  Guardians,  which  are  in  fact  executive 
boards  for  a  particular  class,  and  all  of  which  should  be 
subject  to  the  inspection  of  the  siipervisory  board.  In  the 
Middle-West  States,  where  Boards  of  Control  are  the  ac- 


432  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

cepted  form,  it  is  significant  that  they  are  strengthening  the 
supervisory  side  of  their  work  by  volunteer  boards  of  visitors, 
empowered  to  report  to  the  Governor  as  well  as  to  the 
Board  of  Control.  The  Committee  on  Supervision  and 
Control  of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections recommended  in  1903  Boards  of  Control  for  groups 
of  institutions,  and  an  advisory  unsalaried  board  likewise  for 
each  group.^  Moreover,  it  appears  that  there  is  a  tendency 
to  enlarge  the  executive  powers  of  supervisory  boards  in 
so  far  as  they  are  needed  to  protect  dependents ;  and  to 
strengthen  the  system  by  substituting  group  boards  of 
control  for  a  number  of  local  boards,  as  in  New  York  and 
Massachusetts.  At  the  same  time  there  is  a  growing  ten- 
dency for  Boards  of  Control  to  call  in  volunteer  service  to 
fulfil  their  advisory  functions.  The  weakest  point  of  the 
supervisory  board  is  its  inability  to  enforce  necessary  re- 
forms ;  the  weakest  point  of  Boards  of  Control  is  that  they 
are  left  to  supervise  their  own  work.  The  recognition  of 
these  defects  is  leading  to  devices  for  supplementing  the 
work  of  both  in  the  directions  most  needed. 

It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  the  efficiency  of  both 
kinds  of  boards  will  depend  on  the  quality  of  people  com- 
posing them,  and  the  demands  made  by  the  public  upon  them 
for  disinterested  and  progressive  administration.  With  a 
membership  drafted  from  the  best  citizens  and  supported  by 
an  enlightened  public  opinion,  both  have  been  successful  — 
in  short,  the  method  is  far  less  important  than  the  men. 

Eadiating  from  the  State  Boards  of  Charities  are  certain 
delegated  visitorial  powers  bestowed  upon  appointees  in  the 
various  counties  and  localities  of  the  State.  A  local  rep- 
resentative of  a  State  board  is  expected  to  visit  county 
institutions,  and  call  to  the  attention  of  the  board  anything 
that  seems  to  be  amiss.  In  Ohio  the  Board  of  County 
Visitors  is  appointed  by  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  This 
1  Blackmar,  N,  C.  C,  1903,  pp.  358  ff. 


AGENCIES  FOR   SUPERVISION  AND   CONTROL.      433 

county  board  consists  of  six  persons,  three  men  and  three 
women,  and  not  more  than  three  of  each  party ;  and  they 
are  required  to  visit  all  places  of  charity  and  correction 
in  the  county  where  they  live.  They  have  power  to  visit 
such  institutions  at  least  four  times  during  the  year ;  in  fact, 
they  make  many  more  visits.  They  report  to  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  once  a  year,  and  they  send  a  report  also  to 
the  State  Board  of  Charities. 

In  States  where  there  is  an  active  State  board,  but  where 
the  law  does  not  provide  for  unsalaried  visitors  in  this 
formal  way,  a  considerable  number  of  persons  are  in  fact 
interested  in  local  charities  ;  and  their  visiting  is  made 
effective  in  the  introduction  of  reforms  through  their  cor- 
respondence and  intercourse  with  the  State  board.  Con- 
ferences of  the  superintendents  of  the  poor  are  also  frequently 
held  under  the  auspices  of  the  State  board,  as  in  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  and  Indiana.  The  value  of  official  boards  has 
been  greatly  enhanced  by  the  large  number  of  people  they 
have  been  able  to  interest  in  the  administration  of  the  public 
charities. 

In  several  States  there  have  grown  up  associations  for  the 
voluntary  unofficial  supervision  of  public  charitable  institu- 
tions in  cooperation  with  the  official  boards.  Of  these  the 
most  important  is  the  State  Charities  Aid  Association  of 
New  York,  organized  in  1872,  with  the  object  of  bringing 
about  reforms  in  the  poorhouses,  the  almshouses,  and  the 
State  charitable  institutions  of  Xew  York,  through  the  active 
interest  of  an  organized  body  of  voluntary  visitors,  acting  in 
cooperation  with  and  as  an  aid  to  the  local  administration 
of  these  institutions  and  the  official  State  boards  of  super- 
vision. Upon  the  nomination  of  the  State  Charities  Aid 
Association,  through  its  board  of  managers,  district  supreme 
courts  are  authorized  to  grant  to  the  visitors  of  the  Associa- 
tion orders  enabling  them  to  visit,  inspect,  and  examine  on 
behalf  of  the  Association  any  of  the  public  charitable  insti- 


434  AMEBIC  AN   CHARITIES. 

tutions  owned  by  the  State,  county,  township,  or  city,  the 
poorhouses  and  almshouses  within  the  State  of  New  York, 
such  visitors  to  be  responsible  to  the  counties  from  which 
these  institutions  receive  their  inmates.  The  Association 
reports  annually  to  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  the 
State  Commission  of  Lunacy  upon  matters  relative  to  the 
institutions  subject  respectively  to  the  inspection  and  con- 
trol of  these  two  official  bodies. 

The  New  York  Association  has  a  central  board  of  man- 
agers, largely  of  New  York  City,  and  visiting  committees  in 
43  counties,  with  a  total  of  more  than  1000  volunteer  visitors 
to  county,  city,  and  town  almshouses,  State  Hospitals  for 
the  Insane,  County  Homes  for  Children,  City  Hospitals,  and 
other  public  charities. 

The  Association  is  supported  entirely  through  volun- 
tary contributions,  refusing  to  receive  money  from  public 
sources  in  order  to  remain  free  from  outside  influences.  It 
maintains  a  salaried  secretary  and  assistant  secretary,  prints 
a  valuable  annual  report,  and  occasionally  pamphlets  on  sub- 
jects of  special  interest  connected  with  relief,  at  a  total  cost 
of  about  $30,000  per  year.  Such  an  agency  as  this  would 
manifestly  be  a  nuisance  unless  wisely  managed,  and  would 
result  in  legalized  meddling.  But  actually  the  Association 
has  secured  very  large  results  through  its  voluntary  inspec- 
tion of  public  institutions.  Chiefly  through  its  exertions  a 
higher  standard  of  care  has  been  introduced  into  every  alms- 
house in  the  State  ;  a  training  school  for  nurses  was  estab- 
lished at  Bellevue  Hospital  in  1873,  and  in  1874  a  hospital 
book  and  newspaper  society  to  provide  reading  matter  for 
the  inmates  ;  the  farming  out  of  the  poor  has  been  abolished ; 
a  society  for  instruction  in  First  Aid  to  the  Injured,  train- 
ing schools  for  nurses  for  the  insane  and  municipal  lodging 
houses  were  established,  and  the  removal  of  the  insane  from 
almshouses  has  been  secured. 

A  summary  of  the  work  of  this  society  in  1906  will  serve 


AGENCIES  FOR   SUPERVISION  AND   CONTROL.      435 

to  show  what  may  be  done  by  volunteer  service  tactfully 
and  wisely  offered  until  it  has  gained  the  confidence  of  citi- 
zens and  public  officials.  The  Association's  Committees 
visited  the  almshouses  and  hospitals  of  43  counties,  inspected 
the  institutions  under  the  Department  of  Public  Charities  in 
New  York,  and  Bellevue  and  the  allied  hospitals ;  visited 
22  State  institutions  for  the  insane  and  other  classes ;  estab- 
lished four  committees  for  the  after-care  of  the  insane ;  and 
studied  and  reported  upon  the  methods  employed  to  detect 
insanity  and  other  defects  in  immigrants,  and  of  caring  for 
and  deporting  them.  The  Association  has  carefully  exam- 
ined all  proposed  legislation  relating  to  charities  and  co- 
operated with  other  associations  in  influencing  legislation 
for  the  welfare  of  the  poor.  Besides  these  supervisory 
duties,  the  Association  does  a  large  work  in  placing  children 
and  mothers  with  infants  in  families.^ 

This  record  shows  the  possibilities  of  this  type  of  volun- 
tary organization  under  wise  management.  An  organization 
similar  to  this  might  be  established  in  States  having  no 
board  of  supervision  or  control  as  a  means  of  educating 
people  up  to  the  point  where  a  State  board  could  be  safely 
created ;  but  it  would  only  be  feasible  in  case  there  were  a 
group  of  persons  with  considerable  wealth  and  leisure,  and 
a  vast  amount  of  intelligence  and  tact,  who  were  willing  to 
give  their  time  to  it. 

The  class  of  public  institutions  that  need  the  most  super- 
vision, and  ordinarily  get  the  least  of  it,  are  those  of  our 
large  cities.  Ordinarily,  if  there  is  a  city  department,  it  is 
an  executive  department,  subject  to  the  influences  of  politics, 
and  not  gifted  with  the  power  of  supervising  itself  satisfac- 
torily. In  Boston,  in  1892,  Mayor  Matthews  appointed  a 
committee  of  private  citizens  to  visit  and  report  upon  char- 
itable institutions  of  that  city  for  his  information  and  that 
of  the  public.  A  most  valuable  report  was  prepared,  from 
1  Annual  Report,  1906;  "Charities  Directory,"  New  York,  1907. 


436  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

which  quotations  have  already  been  made  in  the  course  of 
this  volume.  In  the  following  year  an  ordinance  provided 
for  a  permanent  committee  of  the  same  character,  which 
amounted,  in  fact,  to  a  municipal  board  of  charities  with 
power  of  supervision  and  report  only. 

In  the  chapter  on  Private  Charities  the  question  of  the 
regulation  of  charities  which  do  not  receive  public  money 
was  discussed.  It  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  charity  ex- 
perts that  dependents  should  be  protected  in  private  as  well 
as  public  institutions  by  systematic  supervision,  and  that 
posterity  should  be  protected  as  well  by  the  regulation  of 
endowments  and  bequests. 

In  the  consideration  of  the  various  methods  of  supervision 
and  control,  two  tendencies  are  seen  to  be  strongly  marked : 
one  toward  centralization  of  business-management  either  for 
all  the  institutions  of  a  State  or  for  certain  classes  ;  the  other 
toward  an  increasing  employment  of  volunteer  supervisory 
service  as  both  a  check  and  an  aid  to  public  officials.  Ow- 
ing to  these  tendencies,  it  seems  probable  that  the  line  of 
demarcation  between  supervisory  Boards  of  Charities  and 
Boards  of  Control  will  gradually  be  obliterated,  and  that  the 
efficiency  of  both  will  be  determined  by  the  degree  to  which 
they  can  be  kept  out  of  politics,  and  to  which  they  can  en- 
list the  interest  and  service  of  philanthropic  citizens. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE   CHARITY   ORGANIZATION   MOVEMENT. 

In  its  widest  sense  the  organization  of  charities  includes 
work  already  described.  It  is  the  purpose  of  a  State  Board 
of  Charities  to  supervise  and  coordinate  the  public  institu- 
tions. It  is  the  aim  of  a  volunteer  body  like  the  State 
Charities  Aid  Association  to  assist  public  charities  in  work- 
ing together  for  good.  But  in  its  technical  meaning  the 
term  "charity  organization"  has  come  to  be  applied  to 
a  particular  kind  of  society  whose  aims  are  broader  than 
mere  almsgiving,  and  whose  principles  are  applicable  to 
every  form  of  charity.^ 

In  the  preceding  chapter  it  has  been  shown  how  the  un- 
even and  unrelated  development  of  State  charitable  insti- 
tutions created  a  demand  for  agencies  with  powers  of 
supervision,  coordination,  and  regulation.  If  the  charities 
of  a  State  are  chaotic,  those  of  a  large  city  are  still  more  so. 
The  systematic  arrangement  of  the  benevolent  agencies 
of  a  city,  as  shown  in  a  charities  directory,  might  convey 
tlie  idea  that  they  had  been  evolved  as  systematically 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  persons  needing  relief.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  classification  of  charities  in  Boston, 
where  the  first  Charity  Organization  Society  of  this  country 
originated. 

1  Many  charity  organization  societies  call  themselves  by  other  names : 
the  Philadelphia  Society  by  the  cumbrous  but  accurate  title,  "  Society  for 
Organizing  Charity"  ;  others  by  the  more  convenient  titles,  "  Associated 
Charities,"  "United  Charities,"  "  Bureau  of  Charities,"  etc. 

437 


438 


AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 


Directory  of  Charitable  and  Beneficent  Organizations. 
Boston,  1907.     Contents. 

Class  I.   Agencies  for  the  Homeless  : 

Shelters,  transportation,  miscellaneous. 
Class  II.  Agencies  working  with  Needy  Families  in  their  Homes  : 

1.  Employment. 

2.  Special  relief  for  special  classes. 

3.  General  relief  for  special  classes. 

4.  General  relief  for  all  classes. 

5.  Day  nurseries  and  kindergartens. 

6.  Nursing  and  care  of  the  sick  in  their  own  homes. 

7.  Diet  kitchens,  milk  funds. 

8.  Burials. 

Class  III.  Agencies  working  with  Needy  Children : 

1.  Placing-out  Agencies. 

2.  Prevention  of  Cruelty. 

3.  Homes  for  children. 

4.  Reformatory  agencies  for  children,  truant  ofiScers, 

children's  courts,  probation  work,  reformatories. 

5.  Miscellaneous. 

Class  IV.    Homes  for  Adults  : 

1.  Boarding  homes  for  wage-earners  and  students. 

2.  Homes  for  the  aged. 

3.  Homes  for  soldiers  and  sailors. 

4.  Almshouses. 

Class  V.  Agencies  for  the  Sick  (including  Insane  and  Dipso- 
maniac) : 

1.  Ambulance  service. 

2.  General  and  special  dispensaries. 

3.  Special  hospitals  and  sanatoria. 

4.  General  hospitals. 

6.  Hospitals  and  homes  for  incurables. 

6.  Convalescent  homes,  fresh  air,  change  of  climate. 

7.  Miscellaneous. 


THE  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  MOVEMENT.     439 

Class  VI.    Belief  and  Education  of  Defectives : 

1.  Blind. 

2.  Crippled. 

3.  Deaf  and  deaf-mutes. 

4.  Epileptic. 

5.  Feeble-minded. 

Class  VII. ^  Preventive  and  Reform  Agencies. 
Class  VIII.    Constructive  Social  Work. 
Class  IX.    Educational  Agencies. 
Class  X.    Supervisory  Agencies. 
Class  XI.    Churches  and  Congregations. 

There  are  included  in  this  list  1424  agencies  which  are 
concisely  described  in  a  volume  of  500  pages.  It  might 
appear  from  this  that  every  need  was  provided  for,  and  that 
the  field  was  adequately  covered.  But  if  the  1424  agencies 
were  arranged  in  the  order  of  the  date  of  their  foundation, 
it  would  appear  that  many  of  them  have  been  organized 
where  slight  need  existed,  while  at  the  same  time  there  were 
great  gaps  in  the  charitable  field  still  needing  to  be  filled. 

The  chaotic  nature  of  relief-work  in  a  city  where  charity 
organization  principles  have  not  been  adopted,  may  be  better 
appreciated  if  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  applicant 
for  relief.  A  poor  person  in  need  of  relief  does  not  usually 
have  a  directory  of  charities  in  his  library,  and  may  be 
referred  from  agency  to  agency  without  being  able  to  find 
the  relief  he  needs,  which  all  the  while  is  waiting  for  him. 
In  Baltimore,  for  instance,  it  will  be  found  that  there  are 
societies  to  relieve  any  need  whatever  of  particular  classes 
of  persons.  The  Hebrew  Benevolent  will  do  this  for  Israel- 
ites, the  German  Society  for  Germans,  the  St.  Andrew's 
Society  for  the  Scotch,  the  denominational  societies  for  those 
of  their  faith  and  for  an  undetermined  number  of  outsiders. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  are  societies  that  will  relieve 
1  Classes  VII.  to  XI.  enumeration  of  societies  omitted. 


440  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

any  person  whatever  in  some  particular  way.  The  Poor 
Association  will  give  coal  and  groceries  to  any  applicant  it 
considers  Avorthy,  without  regard  to  religion,  race,  or  color. 
The  dispensaries  will  give  medicine,  the  sewing  societies, 
clothing,  and  so  on.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  lines  of 
activity  intersect.  The  classification  by  race  overlaps  that 
by  religion,  while  the  classification  by  needs  overlies  them 
both;  and  several  agencies  for  the  same  sort  of  work  are 
superimposed  upon  the  others,  while  unlimited  claims  upon 
individual  benevolence  supplement  or  duplicate  the  whole. 
Suppose  the  case  of  a  German  Lutheran  who  is  in  need  of 
one  thing,  say  fuel.  There  are  four  organizations  to  which 
he  may  properly  apply  :  (1)  the  German  Society;  (2)  his 
church ;  (3)  the  Poor  Association  ;  (4)  the  police  station.  If 
he  is  sick,  the  Indigent  Sick  Society  may  also  aid ;  if  a 
soldier,  he  may  apply  to  the  Confederate  Relief  Society  or 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic ;  if  his  children  go  to  a 
Methodist  Sunday-school,  lielp  may  be  had  from  that  source ; 
if  a  Roman  Catholic,  he  may  also  apply  to  the  Society  of 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul ;  and  finally,  if  he  is  just  out  of  jail, 
the  Prisoners'  Aid  Association  may  help.  All  this,  of 
course,  does  not  include  what  he  may  obtain  from  private 
individuals.^ 

The  necessity  for  cooperation  among  charitable  agencies 
and  for  thoroughness  of  treatment  may  be  illustrated  by  the 
work  of  the  Philadelphia  Society  for  Organizing  Charity  in 
a  single  case.^ 

"A  poor  colored  woman,  a  widow,  had  two  children,  aged  six  and 
three,  who  had  never  walked.  Before  we  could  get  this  woman's  diffi- 
culties straightened  out  and  the  legs  of  the  children  straightened  too,  our 
district  superintendent  and  our  volunteer  visitor  had  sought  either  the 
advice  or  the  active  help  of  the  following  agencies :  the  district  doctor, 

1  This  description  applied  to  Baltimore  as  Professor  Warner  knew  it 
about  18f)0-1893,  and  still  applies  to  many  cities. 

2  Twenty-eighth  Annual  Report  Philadelphia  Society  O.  C,  1906,  p.  16; 
see  also  in  this  report,  "  Fifty  Selected  Cases." 


THE  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  MOVEMENT.      441 

the  woman's  former  physician,  the  Orthopsedic  Hospital,  the  Philadel- 
phia Research  and  Protective  Association,  the  Children's  Aid  Society, 
the  Sunday  Ledger,  St.  Christopher's  Hospital,  the  Hahnemann  Hos- 
pital, the  Woman's  Hospital,  a  medical  inspector  of  the  Bureau  of 
Health,  an  employment  agency,  a  public  school  principal,  the  Octavia 
Hill  Association,  the  Department  of  Charities,  and  the  House  of  St. 
Michael  and  All  Angels.  ...  In  this  particular  record,  which  is  by  no 
means  the  longest,  ...  it  appears  that  our  district  superintendent  and 
her  assistant  paid  76  visits,  wrote  21  letters,  and  held  41  interviews  in 
the  office." 

It  was  not  only  desirable,  but  necessary,  that  all  these 
agencies  should  work  together  heartily,  in  order  to  do  what 
was  needed  in  the  case.  Proper  aid  to  many  destitute 
families  involves  an  even  wider  circle  of  cooperation ;  and  if 
we  consider,  not  special  cases,  but  charitable  work  in  general, 
we  find  that  not  one  of  the  agencies  can  properly  isolate 
itself.  A  brief  review  of  the  history  of  the  Charity  Organ- 
ization idea  is  necessary  to  explain  how  the  incoherent 
charity  of  a  generation  ago  has  gradually  been  replaced 
by  an  intelligent  system  in  which  no  charity  lives  to  itself 
alone. 

In  the  fifties  there  were  organized  in  nearly  all  the  large 
cities  in  the  United  States  general  relief-giving  societies, 
usually  under  the  title  of  "  Societies  for  the  Improvement 
of  the  Condition  of  the  Poor."  As  indicated  by  the  name, 
these  societies  held  before  themselves  the  highest  purposes 
that  benevolent  people  could  seek  to  accomplish.  In  fact, 
most  of  their  announced  objects  agree  quite  closely  with 
those  of  the  modern  Charity  Organization  Societies.  It  was 
their  purpose  to  find  work  for  all  willing  to  do  it,  to  investi- 
gate all  cases  thoroughly,  to  raise  the  needy  above  the  need 
of  relief,  and  incidentally  to  relieve  directly  such  want  as 
seemed  to  require  it.  But  all  these  Societies  for  the  Im- 
provement of  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  were  dispensers  of 
material  aid,  this  function  submerged  all  others,  and,  as  Mr. 
Kellogg  puts  it,  "  they  sank  into  the  sea  of  almsgiving." 


442  AMERICAN   CHAEITIES. 

Their  work  was  done  more  or  less  well ;  but  there  is  a 
general  agreement  that  twenty  years  after  their  organization, 
private  almsgiving  in  American  cities,  for  the  most  part 
through  formal  and  even  incorporated  societies,  was  profuse 
and  chaotic,  v/iiile  still  not  meeting  the  demands  made  upon 
it.  It  was  dispensed  in  tantalizing  doles  miserably  inade- 
quate for  effectual  succor  where  the  need  was  genuine,  and 
often  dealt  out  broadcast  among  criminals  and  impudent 
beggars.^  Public  relief,  at  the  same  time,  was  in  an  unsatis- 
factory condition,  outdoor  relief  being  administered  with 
especial  recklessness,  and  frequently  tainted  by  political 
corruption.  The  old  movement  for  the  betterment  of  chari- 
ties had  substantially  come  to  a  standstill.  While  profes- 
sion was  still  made  of  doing  all  that  was  needed,  the  energies 
of  the  societies  were  absorbed  in  giving  direct  relief.  The 
tendency,  that  has  frequently  been  observed,  of  the  charitj'- 
worker  to  be  dominated  by  details,  —  to  be  so  busy  with  im- 
mediate needs  that  he  has  not  time  to  prevent  their  recur- 
rence,—  had  largely  neutralized  the  original  aims  of  the 
Societies  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Condition  of  the  Poor. ^ 
The  movement  for  charity  organization  which  originated 
in  London  in  1868  was  introduced  into  this  country  about 
ten  years  later,  being  copied  directly  at  a  number  of  inde- 
pendent points.^      After  the  trial  of  a  society  with  similar 

1  Kellogg,  "Charity  Organization  in  the  United  States,"  N.  C.  C,  1893, 
pp.  53,  54;  Devine,  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  pp.  343-345. 

2  The  author  once  followed  through  with  considerahle  care  the  annual 
reports  of  one  of  these  Societies  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Condition  of 
the  Poor.  One  thing  that  seemed  to  serve  as  an  index  to  the  changing 
etlicieney  of  the  society  was  the  statement  regarding  the  number  of 
persons  for  whom  work  was  found.  This  item  gradually  dropped  out  of 
their  reports  altogetlier,  and  instead  appeared  sensational  appeals  for 
funds  and  descriptions  of  need  in  special  cases.  The  large  number  re- 
lieved annually  was  especially  dwelt  upon ;  but  the  inadequacy  of  the 
relief  given  was  manifest  frona  the  figures. 

*  Probably  pre(;ipitated  l)y  the  experience  of  charity  workers  in  reliev- 
ing the  destitution  resulting  from  the  depression  of  1873-1878. 


THE  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  MOVEMENT.      443 

purposes  at  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  and  certain  tenta- 
tive and  unsatisfactory  experiments  in  clearing-house 
registration  of  relief  work  in  New  York  and  Boston,  the 
first  real  Charity  Organization  Society  was  established  in 
Buffalo,  in  December,  1877.  The  Rev.  S.  H.  Gurteen,  an 
English  clergyman,  who  had  been  active  in  the  London 
society,  was  the  moving  force  in  the  inauguration  of  this 
enterprise.  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  New  Haven  estab- 
lished similar  societies  in  1878,  and  Cincinnati,  Brooklyn, 
and  Indianapolis  followed  in  1879.  The  society  in  New 
York  was  not  organized  until  1882,  when  the  initiative  in  the 
matter  was  taken  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities,  which 
adopted  the  following  resolutions  :  — 

"  fVhereds,  There  are  in  the  City  of  New  York  a  large  number  of 
independent  societies  engaged  in  teaching  and  relieving  the  poor  of 
the  city  in  their  own  homes,  and 

"  Whereas,  There  is  at  present  no  system  of  cooperation  by  which 
these  societies  can  receive  definite  mntual  information  in  regard  to  the 
work  of  each  other,  and 

^'■Whereas,  Without  some  such  system  it  is  impossible  that  much  of 
their  effort  should  not  be  wasted,  and  even  do  harm  by  encouraging 
pauperism  and  imposture,  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Commissioners  of  New  York  City  are  hereby 
appointed  a  committee  to  take  such  steps  as  they  may  deem  wise,  to 
inaugurate  a  system  of  mutual  help  and  cooperation  between 
such  societies."  ^ 

In  nearly  every  instance  the  motive  leading  to  these 
organizations  is  declared  to  be  "  discontent  with  the  prodi- 
gality and  inefficiency  of  public  relief,  and  the  chaotic  state 
of  private  charity."  Twenty-two  of  the  associations  organ- 
ized at  these  or  later  dates  report  that  — 

"  voluntary  charity  was  lavish,  uninformed,  and  aimless,  with  no  concert 
of  action  ;  two  that  it  was  variable,  and  therefore  unreliable;  one  that 
it  was  impeded  by  discouragement  ;  and  one  that  it  did  not  exist  in 
the  community." 

1  New  York  Directory  of  Charities,  1892,  pp.  1,  2. 


444  AMERICAN  CHABtTlES. 

The  same  impulse  that  established  the  new  societies  abol- 
ished outdoor  relief  in  Brooklyn  and  Philadelphia,  and 
greatly  reduced  it  in  Buffalo  and  Indianapolis.  The  growth 
of  the  movement  may  be  measured  to  some  extent  by  the 
fact  that  fifty-five  societies  reported  to  the  Committee  of  the 
National  Conference  in  1893  a  summary  of  their  income  and 
personal  service  accounts,  while  in  1907  more  than  three 
times  as  many  were  listed  in  the  directories  of  charities  in 
the  United  States  alone. 

In  order  to  afford  as  concise  a  view  as  possible  of  charity 
organization,  there  is  given  in  tabular  form,  on  the  following 
page,  a  statement  of  the  objects,  methods,  and  machinery  of 
the  societies  undertaking  such  work. 

Taking  up  seriatim  the  objects  and  methods  of  the  Char- 
ity Organization  Societies  of  the  United  States,  it  may  be 
seen  that  the  fundamental  thought  is  the  cooperation  of  all 
charitable  agencies  of  a  given  locality,  and  the  best  coordina- 
tion of  their  efforts.  In  order  to  secure  this,  the  cooperat- 
ing societies,  as  far  as  practicable,  furnish  records  of  the 
relief-work  done  by  each  to  the  central  office,  so  that 
accounts  may  be  compared  and  the  overlapping  of  relief 
prevented.  The  Charity  Organization  Society  maintains  at 
this  central  office  an  alphabetical  list  of  all  cases  that  have 
received  relief  from  any  reporting  agency  whatever,  or  that 
have  been  investigated  by  itself  ;  and  this  confidential  cat- 
alogue of  cases  treated  is  a  treasure-house  of  facts  for  the 
guidance  of  those  engaged  in  benevolent  work.  The  New 
York  society  had  in  1907  nearly  100,000  records  (not  includ- 
ing those  withdrawn  or  destroyed),  some  of  them  covering  25 
years  and  containing  40,000  to  50,000  words.  While  this 
is  the  largest  consolidated  list  in  the  country,  yet  the  central 
office  catalogues  of  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  many  other 
cities  contain  a  very  large  number  of  cases.  These  are  so 
arranged  that  any  case  can  be  referred  to  at  once,  and  the 
person  charitably  interested  in  that  case  can  get  a  reply 


THE  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION   MOVEMENT.      445 


TABLE   LXXII. 
Charity  Organizatiox  Prixcipi.es  and  Methods. 


Principles. 

Mrthods. 

Machinerv. 

1.  Cooperation  between  all 

1.  Comparison   of   relief 

1.  A    card    catalogue    of 

social  forces  and  char- 

records of  the  several 

cases  at  a  central  ofBce 

itable    agencies    of    a 

agencies  and  intimate 

and    frequent  confer- 

given locality,  and  the 

acquaintance  of  work- 

ences of  workers. 

best   coordination     of 

ers    with   dependent 

their  efforts. 

families  and  their  con- 
ditions. 

2.  Accurate  knowledge  of 

2.  Thorough  investigation. 

2.  Paid  agents  assisted  by 

all  cases  treated. 

followed  by  careful 

volunteer  visitors,  and 

registration. 

elaborate  case  records 
either  at  central  or 
branch  offices. 

3.  Prompt    and    adequate 

3.  Bringing   each    case   to 

3.  Correspondence,    p  e  r  - 

relief   for    all    that 

the  attention  of  appro- 

sonal interviews,  spe- 

should have  it. 

priate  relief  agencies 

cial  or  emergency  re- 

willing to  aid. 

lief-fund,  cooperation 
with  relief-giving  so- 
cieties and  persons. 

4.  Establishment   of   rela- 

4. Friendly  visiting. 

4.  Organization  of  corps  of 

tions   of  personal   in- 

volunteer visitors, who 

terest  and   sympathy 

are  not  almsgivers. 

between  the  poor  and 

working  under  the 

the  well-to-do. 

guidance  of  paid 
agents. 

5.  Exposure   of  impostors 

5.  After  investigation,  no- 

5. Paid    agents,  mendi- 

and prevention  of  wil- 

tification in  all  cases  of 

cancy   police,  publica- 

ful idleness. 

those  likely  to  be  de- 

tion of  a  "  cautionary 

ceived,    and,    where 

hst,"    information    to 

feasible,  arrest    of 

all  asking  for  it  in  spe- 

impostors and  profes- 

cific cases,  wood  yard. 

sional  beggars.     Work 

laundry,  etc. 

test. 

6.  Work   for  all  able   and 

6.  To  provide  regular  work 

6.  Employment      agency. 

willing  to  do  anything. 

where  possible  and 

wood    yard,  stone- 

relief- work   when 

breaking,      laundries. 

necessary. 

rag-sorting,  work  for 
the  handicapped,  etc. 

7.  Prevention  of   pauper- 

1. By  special  educational. 

7.  Kindergartens,    night 

ism. 

provident,       sanitai-y. 

schools,  industrial 

and       industrial 

schools,  penny  provi- 

schemes for  those  on 

dent    funds,    general 

the  verge    of    depen- 

constructive   social 

dence. 

measures. 

8.  Collection  and  diffusion 

8.  Discussion,  public  meet- 

8. Board  meetings,  annual 

of  knowledge,  on   all 

ings,    social     research 

meetings,  conferences, 

subjects  connected 

and   publication,  edu- 

lecture    courses,    pe- 

with  the    administra- 

cation    of     charity 

riodicals,    training 

tion   of   charities  and 

workers. 

classes    in    philan- 

with the  conditions  of 

thropy. 

poverty. 

446  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

regarding  it  from  the  society  by  return  mail.  This  clearing- 
house function  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  is  the 
first  and  perhaps  most  fundamental  one,  and  the  one  most 
clearly  stated  in  the  name  which  the  societies  adopted. 
Yet  efficient  cooperation  in  this  matter  on  the  part  of  all 
relieving  agencies  has  been  one  of  the  most  dilficult  results 
to  secure;  in  some  cities  it  has  dwindled  to  almost  nothing, 
while  in  others  even  public  officials  cooperate  fully,  and,  as 
in  Buffalo,  submit  all  cases  to  which  they  give  outdoor 
relief,  to  the  investigation  of  the  society. 

This  conception  of  cooperation  on  the  official  side  among 
charitable  bodies  which  was  the  initial  idea  of  charity 
organization,  has  been  immeasurably  broadened  in  the 
practice  of  every  successful  society.  Miss  Mary  E.  Rich- 
mond, especially,  has  emphasized  this  fact  and  illustrated  it 
in  the  accompanying  diagram.^  It  shows  cooperation  as  a 
working  principle  applicable  to  every  act  of  the  charitable 
worker,  and  it  assumes  that  the  worker  knows  intimately  the 
family  he  is  trying  to  help,  that  a  thorough  investigation 
has  brought  to  light  all  the  resources  available,  and  that  if 
there  has  been  urgent  need  it  has  already  been  relieved. 

DIAGRAM  VII. 
Forces  with  which  the  Charitt  Workers  may  Cooperate. 

A.  Family  Forces : 

Capacity  of  each  member  for  affection,  training,  endeavor,  social 
development. 

B.  Personal  Forces; 

Kindred,  friends. 

C.  Neighborhood  Forces : 

Neighbors,  landlords,  tradesmen. 

Former  and  present  employers. 

Clergymen,  Sunday-school  teachers,  fellow-church-members. 

Doctors. 

•    1  Richmond,  N.  C.  C,  1901,  p.  300. 


THE  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  MOVEMENT.      447 


Trade-unions,  fraternal  and  benefit  societies,  social  clubs,  fellow- 
workmen. 

Libraries,  educational  clubs,  classes,  settlements,  etc. 

Thrift  agencies,  savings-banks,  stamp-savings,  building  and  loan 
associations. 
D.    Civic  Forces : 

School-teachers,  truant  officers. 

Police  magistrates,  probation  officers,  reformatories. 

Health  department,  sanitary  and  factory  inspectors. 

Postmen.  , 

Parks,  baths,  etc. 


A /-_./._./-_/.. Lt- .family 

B.  - .  ^  -__/._./.././_. .  Personal 

C ^-  .y.././. Meighbood 

D _,.-^_.^^ £ivic 

L.^^,.,.^ ^. Private  Charitable 

X_-*..<^ Public  Relief 

E.   Private  Charitable  Forces  : 

Charity  Organization  Society. 
Church  of  denomination  to  which  family  belongs. 
Benevolent  individuals. 
National,  special,  and  general  relief  societies. 
Charity  Employment  agencies  and  workrooms. 
Fresh-air  Society,  Children's  Aid  Society  for  Protection  of  Chil- 
dren, Children's  Homes,  etc. 
District  nurses,  sick-diet  kitchens,  dispensaries,  hospitals,  etc. 
Society  for  the  suppression  of  vice,  prisoners'  aid  society,  etc. 


448  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

F.    Public  Relief  Forces : 
Almshouses. 

Outdoor  Poor  department. 
Public  hospitals  and  dispensaries. 

Miss  Richmond  farther  explains  :  — 

"  All  city  families,  rich  and  poor  alike,  are  surrounded  by  the  forces 
indicated  within  these  circles  ;  .  .  .  inevery  family  asking  charitable  aid, 
therefore,  the  natural  resources  have  so  far  failed  as  to  send  its  mem- 
bers crashing  down  through  circles  B,  C,  D,  to  E,  the  circle  of  private 
charity.  The  problem  of  charity  is  to  get  them  back  into  A  again  by 
rallying  the  forces  that  lie  between.  .  .  .  Other  things  being  equal,  the 
best  force  to  use  is  the  force  that  lies  nearest  the  family.  Charitable 
cooperation  begins  and  ends  in  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  needs 
of  individual  poor  people  and  in  the  patient  endeavor  to  make  them 
permanently  better  off."  ^ 

A  second  fundamental  object  of  the  Charity  Organization 
Society,  which  is  partly  attained  by  the  methods  taken  to 
secure  cooperation  and  prevent  the  overlapping  of  relief, 
is  an  accurate  knowledge  of  all  cases  treated.  Besides 
consulting  the  records  of  cooperating  societies,  this  is  to 
be  gotten  by  thorough  investigation,  followed  by  careful 
registration.  The  old  relief  societies  frequently  depended 
upon  the  memory  of  the  paid  agent  for  the  facts  regarding 
different  families  aided ;  but  the  Charity  Organization 
Society  keeps  its  records  with  thoroughness  in  writing, 
and  thus  extends  their  usefulness  beyond  the  service  of  any 
one  individual.  Investigation  is  not  merely  for  the  pre- 
vention of  fraud,  but  is  an  essential  prerequisite  of  proper 
relief.  The  giving  of  money  or  supplies  is  merely  one 
form  of  prescribing  for  a  case  of  destitution,  and  an  in- 
vestigation is  as  essential  in  dealing  with  the  case  as  a 
diagnosis  in  a  case  of  sickness  with  which  a  physician  deals. 
Nor  is  it  solely  to  ascertain  whether  technical  relief  is 
needed,  —  for  material  relief  may  be  the  least  of  the  needs 

1  N.  C.  C,  1901,  pp.  298  ff. 


THE  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  MOVEMENT.      449 

of  the  family,  —  but  rather  to  supply  data  for  ascertaining 
what  the  treatment  should  be  and  who  should  administer  it. 
The  third  function  of  a  Charity  Organization  Society 
is  to  find  prompt  and  adequate  relief  for  all  that  should 
have  it.  The  society  is  an  animated  directory  of  charities 
of  the  locality  in  which  it  works.  No  one  is  turned  away 
from  the  office  of  the  society  with  the  statement,  "Your 
need  is  none  of  our  business  ;  "  for  the  society  makes  it  its 
business  to  see  that  each  need  is  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  proper  agency.  If  no  agency  exists,  a  benevolent 
individual  can  usually  be  found  to  give  the  relief  required. 
In  discharging  this  function  of  finding  prompt  and  fitting 
relief  for  each  case  of  need,  some  societies  have  been  led 
to  start  relief-funds  of  their  own.  When  the  first  of  these 
organizations  were  formed,  the  antagonism  of  the  old  relief- 
giving  societies  was  frequently  aroused;  for  the  latter  thought 
they  saw  in  the  new  movement  a  likelihood  of  the  duplication 
of  their  own  efforts,  which  would  be  mischievous  in  its  in- 
fluence on  the  poor,  and  embarrassing  when  appeals  were 
made  to  contributors.  It  was  partly  because  of  this  posi- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  established  societies  that  many  of 
the  new  organizations  started  out  as  non-relief-giving  agen- 
cies, in  this  matter  breaking  with  English  tradition  and 
making  a  new  departure  in  charity  work.  Experience 
seems  to  have  shown  that  this  abstention  from  relief-giv- 
ing in  the  earlier  years  was  the  very  best  thing  to  allay  the 
jealousy  of  older  societies ;  and  that  it  preserved  the  Charity 
Organization  Societies  for  the  higher  purposes  which  they 
had  in  view.  A  Charity  Organization  Society  with  a  relief- 
fund  must  necessarily  compete  in  its  appeals  to  contributors 
with  other  organizations  giving  direct  relief  to  the  poor. 
These  organizations  are  consequently  apt  to  be  jealous  of 
it,  and  may  not  cooperate  so  willingly,  either  in  aiding  cases 
it  brings  to  their  attention,  or  in  giving  to  it  and  obtaining 
from  it  information  of  common  advantage.     In  such  circiim- 


450  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

stances  it  often  drifts  into  a  condition  where  it  is  simply 
one  of  several  relieving  agencies. 

Further  than  this,  the  public  is  used  to  organizations  of 
the  relief-giving  type ;  and  when  it  hears  of  a  Charity 
Organization  Society,  that  its  work  is  to  benefit  the  poor, 
but  that  it  does  not  give  alms  in  any  form,  such  an  idea 
has  an  educational  influence  of  great  value  in  the  commu- 
nity. People  ask  at  once,  "What  does  it  do?"  and  may 
then  be  induced  to  look  over  the  long  list  of  things,  other 
than  relief-giving,  that  need  doing.  The  older  relief  so- 
cieties were  continually  criticised  on  account  of  the  amount 
spent  in  administration.  If  it  appeared  that  20,  30,  or 
50  per  cent  of  the  contributions  went  for  the  payment 
of  administrative  expenses,  the  contributor  might  object 
on  the  ground  that  he  could  give  his  money  away  more 
cheaply  than  that  himself.  When  Charity  Organization 
Societies  have  no  relief-fund,  this  comparison  of  expenses 
for  administration  with  relief  is  obviated.  If  asked  how 
much  is  spent  for  purposes  of  administration,  the  answer 
is,  "All,"  and  this  has  a  good  tonic  effect  both  upon  the 
questioner,  who  begins  to  see  that  helpfulness  means  more 
than  almsgiving,  and  upon  the  representative  of  the  society, 
who  realizes  that  the  work  must  be  really  and  demonstrably 
useful  if  it  is  to  win  the  support  of  the  public.^ 

In  proportion  as  the  Charity  Organization  Societies  gain 
the  confidence  of  the  community  and  of  the  relief  societies, 
friendly  cooperation  brings  about  new  adjustments  of  rela- 
tions. An  investigation  made  in  1901  of  the  practice  of 
Charity  Organization  Societies  in  the  matter  of  relief-giv- 
ing  showed   that    of    seventy-five    societies,    all    but    six 

1  The  author's  personal  experience  in  the  administrative  work  of  a 
Charity  Organization  Society  convinced  him,  somewhat  to  his  own  sur- 
prise, that  such  a  society  ought  never  to  have  a  relief-fund.  Such  a  fund 
at  once  saps  the  energy  and  ingenuity  of  agents  and  visitors  in  treating 
cases  and  securing  cooperation.  It  also  makes  it  more  difficult  for  them 
to  obtain  cooperation,  even  if  they  try  equally  hard. 


THE  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  MOVEMENT.       451 

provided  immediate  relief  in  urgent  cases  from  funds, 
either  emergency  or  general,  in  the  hands  of  their  agents.^ 
More  than  half  of  all  the  Charity  Organization  Societies 
were  in  cities  which  had  no  relief  societies;  others  could 
not  secure  cooperation  with  the  existing  relief  societies  or 
found  too  much  delay  and  difficulty  in  doing  so.  In  some 
cities,  as  in  Baltimore,  the  adjustment  between  the  relief- 
giving  and  the  Charity  Organization  Society  takes  the  form 
of  federation ;  ^  sometimes  the  field  is  divided  between  them, 
neither  relinquishing  its  powers,  as  in  New  York.^  Where 
the  relief-giving  society  was  formed  after  the  charity  organ- 
ization and  to  supplement  it,  it  commonly  remains  passive 
and  serves  as  a  repository  of  relief,  because  of  its  confidence 
in  the  parent  society.  Often  the  difference  between  a  Charity 
Organization  Society  that  gives  relief,  and  one  that  does 
not,  is  cliiefly  in  name  —  the  fund  in  one  case  being  "  in- 
termediary" or  "special,"  in  the  other  appearing  in  the 
general  expenditures  —  a  difference  of  bookkeeping  rather 
than  of  principle. 

It  may  be  concluded  that  for  one  reason  or  another  the 
societies  which  now  represent  most  fully  and  vitally  the 
broadest  charity  organization  principles  are  giving  emergent 
and  special  relief.  It  is  limited  in  amount  and  strictly 
guarded,  but  in  the  hands  of  trained  agents  and  with  the 
constantly  expanding  ideal  of  what  adequate  relief  and 
treatment  require,  it  has  been  robbed  of  some  of  its  perils. 
Professor  Devine  declares  that  if  these  societies  have  kept 
free  to  a  considerable  extent  from  the  dangers  inherent  in 
relief -giving,  it  is  because  they  have  not,  as  a  rule,  directly 
disbursed  relief  from  a  fund  previously  accumulated,  but 
have  instead  obtained  their  relief,  case   by  case,  as  it   is 

1  Hubbard,  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  vol.  vi.,  No.  6,  1901,  pp.  783  ff. 

2  Brackett,  Charities,  vol.  ix.,  1902,  pp.  37  ff. 

3  Twenty-fifth  Annual  Report  New  York  Charity  Organization  Society, 
1907,  p.  85. 


452  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

needed  for  individual  families.  They  have  thus  been  com- 
pelled constantly  to  justify  their  decisions  and  their  methods 
to  others  in  order  to  secure  approval  and  cooperation.^ 

The  fourth  function  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society 
is  to  establish  relations  of  personal  interest  and  sympathy 
between  the  poor  and  the  well-to-do.  This  is  accomplished 
through  what  is  technically  known  as  "  friendly  visiting," 
volunteer  visitors  being  secured  who  are  willing  to  go  to  the 
poor  as  friends,  and  not  as  almsgivers.  Preferably  each 
friendly  visitor  has  only  one,  or  at  most  two,  cases,  and  the 
relation  is  made  as  permanent  as  possible.  There  are  many 
instances  where  for  years  the  same  visitor  has  gone  to  the 
same  family,  and  genuine  personal  attachments  have  been 
formed.  Visitors  should  never  be  almsgivers ;  for  in  that 
case  the  j^oor  look  upon  them  as  persons  from  whom  some- 
thing is  to  be  gotten,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  if  empowered 
to  give  relief,  the  visitor  fails  to  invent  methods  of  render- 
ing the  better  service  that  is  needed  in  order  to  cure  poverty. 
The  work  of  friendly  visiting  is  declared  by  the  most  ad- 
vanced societies  to  be  the  heart  of  the  work.  The  motto 
"Not  alms,  but  a  friend,"  first  adopted  in  Boston,  has  come 
to  be  the  motto  of  many  of  the  societies.  The  Buffalo  society 
declares  its  primary  aim  to  be  — 

"  to  increase,  to  organize,  and  to  educate  the  amount  of  unpaid,  vol- 
untary personal  service  given  to  the  poor  of  Buffalo." 

This  work  is  developed  under  great  discouragements  in  most 
of  our  large  cities,  especially  in  New  York,  where  the  long 
distances  to  be  covered  by  the  volunteer  visitor,  and  the 
shifting  nature  of  the  indigent  population,  make  it  very  hard 
to  establish  permanent  relations  of  friendship,  or  even  of 
acquaintance.  A  measure  of  success,  however,  has  been 
reached  in  many  cities,  even  in  districts  where  there  is  not 
one  resident  that  could  be  called  upon  as  a  friendly  visitor, 

1  "  Principles  of  Relief,"  p.  'drd. 


i 


THE  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  MOVEMENT.       453 

and  where  many  of  those  who  do  the  visiting  travel  from 
the  suburban  towns  to  reach  the  field  of  work.  The  city  of 
Boston  leads  with  877  visitors,  Chicago  has  over  400,  and 
Buffalo,  150. 

If  the  influence  of  friendly  visiting  upon  the  poor  is  of 
great  value,  its  humanizing  effect  upon  the  visitors  them- 
selves is  scarcely  less.  In  all  large  cities  there  are  places 
which,  though  not  far  from  the  well-to-do  geographically, 
are  likely  to  be  completely  forgotten.  Balzac  said  of  Paris 
that  there  were  streets  and  alleys  of  which  the  upper  classes 
knew  no  more  than  a  man  knows  what  is  going  on  in  his 
pancreas.  If  this  is  less  true  than  when  it  was  spoken,  it  is 
because  many  volunteer  workers  have  been  looking  into 
these  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  taking  an  interest  in 
the  people  that  live  and  die  there.  There  is  no  education  in 
charitable  work  so  good  as  that  which  comes  to  the  friendly 
visitor.  Becoming  interested  in  one  family,  he  is  likely  to 
be  led  out  into  an  interest  in  all  branches  of  city  govern- 
ment, and  of  the  county  and  State  government  as  well ;  he 
will  inevitably  be  drawn  into  the  current  of  broader  measures 
for  social  and  industrial  betterment.  He  who  takes  an  in- 
terest in  trying  to  cure  poverty  in  a  single  case  will  soon 
come  to  find  that  nothing  in  politics  or  industry  is  foreign  to 
him. 

The  fifth  function  mentioned  in  the  tabular  view,  the  ex- 
posure of  impostors,  and  the  prevention  of  wilful  idleness,  is 
frequently  over-emphasized  in  describing  the  purposes  of  a 
Charity  Organization  Society,  so  that  people  look  upon  the 
society  as  merely  an  anti-mendicity  league,  a  detective  so- 
ciety for  preventing  imposition  and  bringing  swindlers  to 
justice.  The  society  is  consequently  regarded  as  blood- 
less, cold,  and  uncharitable,  doing  a  work  which  may  be 
necessary,  but  which  is  certainly  ungracious,  and  does  not 
appeal  to  the  actively  benevolent.  A  society  in  a  large  city 
like  New  York  or  Chicago  has  much  of  this  work  to  do, 


454  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

especially  the  detection  of  fraudulent  chanties.  In  smaller 
places  there  are  not  many  fraudulent  charitable  enterprises, 
but  there  are  always  dishonest  begging-letter  writers,  and 
dishonest  beggars  from  door  to  door.  The  New  York  Society 
has  carried  farthest  the  special  work  of  dealing  with  street 
beggars,  employing  agents  for  that  purpose,  who  aid,  warn, 
expose,  or  arrest,  as  circumstances  may  seem  to  require  in 
each  case.  This  work  of  freeing  the  streets  of  mendicants  is 
very  much  limited  by  the  practice  in  most  cities  of  giving 
licenses  for  petty  peddling  on  the  streets,  or  for  operating 
musical  instruments  of  the  hand-organ  type.  In  order  to 
prevent  wilful  idleness,  most  of  the  societies  provide  a  work 
test  for  both  men  and  women,  or  avail  themselves  of  one 
operated  by  a  cooperating  association. 

To  give  their  contributors  and  cooperating  agencies 
knowledge  of  impostors,  several  of  the  societies  publish  a 
cautionary  list  of  dishonest  applicants  for  relief,  with  their 
various  aliases  so  far  as  known.  The  Chicago  Bureau  of 
Charities  maintains  an  Inquiry  Department  which  has  in- 
formation on  file  covering  1200  charities  and  "  alleged  "  char- 
ities, and  which  is  prepared  to  investigate  any  others  at  the 
request  of  a  subscriber. 

The  Endorsement  Committee  of  San  Francisco  (estab- 
lished by  the  cooperation  of  the  Merchants  Association  and 
the  Associated  Charities)  investigates  charities  at  their  own 
request  and  furnishes  acceptable  ones  with  a  card  of  indorse- 
ment which  may  be  used  in  soliciting  contributions. 

Closely  connected  with  the  work  of  preventing  wilful 
idleness  is  that  of  finding  work  for  all  who  are  willing  but 
who  cannot  find  work  for  themselves  through  the  ordinary 
channels.  The  wood  yard  and  laundry  may  serve  as  work 
tests,  but  they  cannot  give  steady  and  profitable  employment 
to  all  those  desiring  work.  Each  Charity  Organization  So- 
ciety is,  consequently,  to  some  extent  an  employment  agency, 
dealing  in  ordinary  times  with  the  semi-capable,  with  those 


THE  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  MOVEMENT.      455 

who  from  some  perversion  of  character  or  defect  of  mind  or 
body  cannot  fit  themselves  into  the  industries  of  the  time, 
but  may  be  able  to  do  certain  things  if  those  things  are 
sought  out  for  them.  Many  of  those  with  whom  the  society 
deals  are  able-bodied,  but  not  able-minded ;  or  they  may  be 
both  strong  and  intelligent,  but  not  reliable.  There  are  com- 
paratively few  cases  where  there  is  not  some  limitation  of 
capaeity  more  than  that  belonging  to  the  average  person. 
In  this,  as  in  every  other  form  of  relief,  care  must  be  taken 
not  to  undermine  self-reliance  by  finding  employment  for 
those  who  have  no  special  limitation  of  physique  or  char- 
acter. Temporary  employment  is  often  properly  used  as  a 
substitute  for  relief ;  but  in  general,  Charity  Organization 
Societies  should  only  act  as  employment  agencies  when 
applicants  cannot  find  work  through  the  regular  agencies.^ 

The  seventh  function  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society 
has  been  enumerated  as  the  prevention  of  pauperism.  This 
is  sought  to  be  accomplished  by  all  the  means  employed  for 
the  furtherance  of  the  other  specific  purposes  of  the  society. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  charity  organization  movement, 
many  societies  have  established  undertakings  to  assail  pau- 
perism in  its  causes :  the  creche,  or  day  nursery  at  which 
working  mothers  may  leave  their  children  during  the  day ; 
kindergartens  in  connection  with  the  public  schools,  cooking 
schools,  sewing  schools,  trade  schools ;  the  encouragement 
of  thrift  by  different  varieties  of  savings-funds,  such  as  the 
Penny  Provident,  which  receives  deposits  of  one  cent  and 
upward  ;  fuel  funds,  by  means  of  which  summer  savings  can 
secure  winter  delivery  of  coal  at  summer  prices  ;  these  and 
hundreds  of  other  educative  and  preventive  measures  have 
been  inspired  and  initiated  by  them.  In  recent  years  the 
Charity  Organization  Societies  have  been  leaders  in  municipal 
and  legislative  reform,  sharing  and  organizing  independent 

iBrackett,  Charities  Revieio,\o\.  vi.,  1897,  pp.397  ff.;  Devine,  "Prin- 
ciples of  Relief,"  pp.  152  ff. 


456  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

movements  for  the  prevention  of  tuberculosis  and  unsani- 
tary housing,  for  the  establishment  of  municipal  lodging 
houses  and  the  control  of  charity  transportation. 

The  eighth  and  last  function  of  the  Charity  Organization 
Society  is  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  on  all  subjects  con- 
nected with  the  administration  of  charities  and  the  preven- 
tion of  dependence.  No  progressive  society  neglects  these 
functions.  By  public  meetings,  conferences  of  visitors, 
lecture  courses,  training  classes  for  workers,  and  the  publi- 
cation of  periodicals  they  undertake  to  educate  the  com- 
munity into  wiser  methods  of  charitable  effort.  The 
bibliography  of  charity  organization  now  comprises  hun- 
dreds of  titles  of  the  pamphlets  and  other  publications 
issued  by  the  societies  of  the  country.  Their  annual  reports 
are  educational  literature  of  high  value,  giving  detailed 
accounts  of  cases,  and  explaining  the  countless  things,  not 
to  be  summarized,  which  are  necessary  in  wisely  aiding  the 
poor. 

In  the  earlier  history  of  charity  organization,  what  have 
been  called  the  negative  functions,  i.e.  investigation,  regis- 
tration, and  repression  of  fraud,  were  emphasized  as  being 
of  the  highest  importance.  With  the  broadening  and  spir- 
itualizing of  the  aims  of  these  societies,  cooperation,  pre- 
vention, and  education  have  taken  the  first  place.  While 
the  principles  of  Charity  Organization  Societies  remain  the 
same,  the  emphasis  upon  them  has  changed  ;  and,  as  prin- 
ciples, no  longer  belonging  to  a  particular  form  of  society, 
but  becoming  the  inspiration  of  philanthropy,  they  have 
become  the  regulative  force  of  all  relief-giving. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
THE   TREND   OF   MODERN   CHARITY. 

Those  who  juggle  with  the  word  "charity  "  find  it  easy  to 
assert  that  there  has  been  no  progress  in  charity  since  the 
early  days.  They  point  to  manifestations  of  the  purest 
and  most  unselfish  sentiment  on  the  part  of  the  early 
Christians  and  of  the  pre-Christian  pagans  ;  and  then  to 
our  modern  charities  with  their  material  aid,  and  all  their 
defects  of  narrowness  and  inadequacy,  and  ask  us  to  note 
how  charity  has  degenerated.  They  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  King  James  translators  of  the  New  Testament 
could  use  the  word  "  charity "  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
1  Corinthians,  while  those  who  made  the  new  translation 
substituted  the  word  "love."  But  this  controversy  is  in  fact 
a  matter  of  mere  definitions,  and  it  is  only  by  playing  fast 
and  loose  with  words  that  the  case  is  made  out  against 
modern  charity. 

With  a  calculus  of  the  benevolent  impulses  we  have 
nothing  at  present  to  do.  Presumably  thirst  is  the  same  to- 
day as  in  the  time  of  Gideon,  when  his  soldiers  drank  from 
the  hand  or  bowed  themselves  to  the  stream ;  but  the  modern 
city  must  have  waterworks.  So  though  charity-in-fj'^e- 
sense-of-love  be  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forev-7q,. 
yet  the  social  machinery  for  making  benevolence  beneficent, 
changes  with  the  changing  times. 

Nevertheless  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  even  when 
attention  is  strictly  confined  to  charities  in  the  sense  of  the 
word  used  in  this  volume,  and  though  one  may  be  confident 
of  progress,  it  is  difficult  to  meet  scepticism  with  tangible 
proofs.     While  one  can  point  to  great  institutional  develop- 

457 


458  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

ments  along  many  lines,  yet  there  still  remain  some  institu- 
tions that  illustrate  the  worst  evils  of  philanthropy.  Good 
systems  continue  to  break  down  because  weakly  adminis- 
tered, and  bad  systems  defy  reform  by  working  well  in  the 
hands  of  the  exceptionally  capable.  From  this  point  of 
view  it  is  almost  discouraging  to  find  that  the  uneducated 
charitable  impulse  may  still  be  of  as  much  value  as  when 
Lecky  wrote  the  following  observation :  — 

"  It  will  continue  to  be  found  that  the  Protestant  lady  working  in 
her  parish,  by  the  simple  force  of  common  sense  and  by  a  scrupulous 
and  minute  attention  to  the  condition  and  character  of  those  whom 
she  relieves,  is  unconsciously  illustrating  with  perfect  accuracy  the 
enlightened  charity  of  Mai  thus."  i 

It  may  have  seemed  to  the  reader  of  these  pages  that  the 
chief  result  of  scientific  charity  has  been  to  disclose  ever 
greater  need,  creating  demands  for  more  institutions,  at 
constantly  increasing  expense,  and  with  an  ever  rising 
standard  of  care.  It  is  necessary  to  gather  up,  from  the 
mass  of  details  concerning  specific  charitable  efforts,  mis- 
takes, plans,  and  theories,  those  larger  guiding  tendencies 
which  interpenetrate  them  all,  and  which  lead  onward  into 
a  broadening  field  of  social  betterment. 

It  may  seem  at  first  a  grim  reason  for  hopefulness  to  say 
that  an  element  of  progress  lies  in  the  very  weight  of  the 
burden  that  charity  imposes  upon  modern  communities. 
It  has  not  been  enough  for  modern  medicine  to  sound  the 
alarm  of  race  degeneration  through  scrofulous  and  neurotic 
i^ut  dity ;  not  until  the  burden  of  the  insane,  epileptic, 
^leeble-minded,  and  inebriate  mounted  to  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  wretched  human  beings  for  whom  there  is  no  place 
in  homes  or  institutions,  did  States  begin  to  plan  for  perma- 
nent custodial  care  or  to  regulate  marriage.  The  burden 
is  rapidly  driving  us  on  to  curative  and  preventive  methods, 
for  we  must  become  wiser  or  be  crushed. 

1  Lecky,  "  European  Morals,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  93-93. 


THE   TREND    OF  MODERN   CHARITY.  450 

Moreover,  that  mankind  begins  to  be  conscious  of  the 
weight  of  the  incapable  and  the  helpless  means  the  deepen- 
ing of  altruistic  instincts  and  a  growing  sense  of  the  soli- 
darity of  society.  The  ages  gone  by  accepted  misery, 
incapacity,  and  industrial  slavery  as  inevitable  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  world ;  but  at  last  we  begin  to  see  that 
chronic  poverty  and  preventable  disease  can  and  must 
finally  be  done  away. 

The  interest  in  individual  poor  persons  and  in  charitable 
institutions  not  only  develops  a  sense  of  the  enormous  social 
burden  which  must  be  carried,  but  leads  out  into  a  wider 
interest  in  social  conditions.  The  need  of  getting  past  the 
charitable  organization  to  the  individual  poor  person  and 
of  treating  him  as  his  special  needs  require,  is  often  empha- 
sized. There  is  a  reverse  process  of  equal  importance  to 
the  right  development  of  philanthropy ;  it  is  that  by  which 
charitable  workers  engaged  in  helping  the  poor  come  to 
see  the  necessity  of  improving  all  the  conditions  —  politi- 
cal, industrial,  social  —  affecting  the  life  of  the  poor.  One 
who  is  a  good  neighbor  by  force  of  kindly  instincts  and 
common-sense,  may  succeed  in  the  simple  conditions  of  coun- 
try life ;  but  in  the  complex  and  unneighborly  modern  city 
he  can  hardly  become  interested  in  the  cure  of  poverty  in 
a  given  case,  without  being  driven  farther  back  to  a  lively 
interest  in  the  reform  of  city  politics,  the  improvement  of 
sanitation ;  and  finally,  even  to  those  fundamental  economic 
and  social  questions  which  underlie  them  all  and  which,  at 
the  beginning,  would  have  appeared  to  have  no  relation  to 
the  work  of  relieving  the  poor.  Active  Charity  Organiza- 
tion Societies  are  constantly  educating  workers  who,  through 
their  interest  in  cases,  come  to  have  a  vital  interest  in  con- 
ditions and  pass  from  the  work  of  caring  for  the  one  to  re- 
forming the  other.  Nor  is  this  a  loss,  for  it  is  a  necessary 
step  in  the  broadening  of  charitable  aims  till  they  shall  in- 
clude whatever  is  required  for  the  cure  and  prevention  of 
dependence. 


460  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Wherever  a  system  of  honor  offices  obtains  through  which 
a  large  number  of  the  influential  class  become  interested  in 
the  administration  of  public  charities,  there  results  a  better- 
ment of  political  institutions  and  often  a  modification  of  in- 
dustrial conditions.  Institutions  have  grown  largely  through 
the  operation  of  unconscious  forces,  but  their  further  growth 
must  now  be  consciously  guided  to  meet  the  highest  social 
ideals.  To  a  great  extent  charitable  institutions  are  still 
in  the  condition  of  half-capable  business  men  who  cannot  be 
said  to  manage  their  business,  but  who  rather  let  their  busi- 
ness manage  them,  being  driven  so  hard  by  attention  to  de- 
tails that  they  have  not  time  properly  to  organize  and  direct 
their  work.  While  all  agree  in  the  truth  of  the  statement 
that  "  a  fence  at  the  top  of  a  precipice  is  better  than  an  am- 
bulance at  the  bottom,"  yet  they  are  so  busy  picking  up  the 
fallen  that  they  do  not  get  time  to  prevent  others  from  fall- 
ing. It  is  one  of  the  peculiar  merits  of  those  imbued  with 
charity  organization  principles  that  they  will  not  allow  them- 
selves to  be  buried  under  details.  They  try  to  survey  the 
w^hole  field,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  so  many  of  their 
workers  combine  an  interest  in  individuals  with  an  even 
more  hopeful  interest  in  the  reform  of  social  conditions. 
Some  are  impatient  because  workers  in  charities  do  not 
move  faster,  because  they  have  such  small  concern  for  the 
causes  of  distress,  and  for  its  prevention.  But  while  our 
charities  may  not  be  moving  as  fast  in  this  desirable  direc- 
tion as  could  be  wished,  they  are  certainly  moving  faster, 
more  perceptibly,  than  ever  before.  Many  of  the  problems 
of  dependence  are  gradually  passing  over  into  the  realms 
of  justice  and  economics;  and  many  organizations  and  move- 
ments which  are  as  truly  charitable  as  an  orphanage  or  an 
almshouse,  pass  under  the  name  of  constructive  social  work, 
or  prevention  and  welfare.  This  cannot  be  doubted  by  one 
who  scans,  for  instance,  the  contents  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections. 


.  THE  TREND   OF  MODERN  CHARITY.  461 

There  is  a  wide  difference  between  the  reports  of  the  earlier 
years  which  deal  largely  with  papers  and  discussions  on 
State  charitable  institutions  for  the  pauper  and  the  insane, 
and  those  of  recent  years  covering  a  variety  of  topics  not 
only  in  technical  charities,  but  in  preventive  work  for 
children,  immigration,  neighborhood  work,  recreation,  in- 
dustrial insurance,  standards  of  living,  and  social  research. 

The  general  interest  in  philanthropy  is  being  stimulated 
by  associations  for  the  study  of  the  social  sciences  and  for 
the  promotion  of  scientific  methods.  So  long  as  the  work 
of  aiding  the  poor  remained  an  art  only,  having  its  origin 
in  instinct  and  its  encouragement  in  super-rational  or  non- 
rational  sanctions,  a  lack  of  verifiable  progress  was  to  be 
expected.  Such  was  the  case  in  the  art  of  healing  and  the 
art  of  nursing  before  they  were  reenforced  by  the  discoveries 
of  the  exact  sciences.  The  art  of  nursing,  and  its  improve- 
ment through  the  help  of  the  science  of  bacteriology,  affords 
an  excellent  example  of  the  manner  in  which  an  art,  pre- 
supposing sympathy  in  the  one  practising  it,  can  yet  be 
improved  by  the  help  of  science.  No  one  appreciates  more 
fully  than  the  ideal  physician  and  the  capable  nurse  the 
non-material  aids  to  health.  Drugs  cannot  take  the  place 
of  hope,  nor  sterilized  dressings  the  place  of  sympathy. 
Many  of  the  component  parts  of  gentleness  are  non-material, 
and  acquired  skill  is  no  substitute  for  conscientiousness. 
But  it  remains  true  that  it  is  science  upon  which  medicine 
and  nursing  have  drawn  for  help  in  the  art  of  healing,  and 
thereby  made  it  more  certain  and  more  satisfactory  in  its 
results. 

Until  recently  all  the  social  sciences  have  been  at  the  stage 
where  their  premises  were  disputed  and  their  deductions 
to  be  used  with  caution.  Political  economy  has  only  lately 
emerged  from  the  disrepute  of  a  dismal  science,  and  so- 
ciology has  barely  gained  recognition.  As  yet  the  social 
sciences  are  even  less  certain  than  the  medical  sciences,  but 


462  AMERICAN  CHARITIES 

the  use  of  them  as  a  foundation  for  charitable  work  contains 
the  best  possible  guaranty  of  substantial  progress. 

The  necessary  relation  between  technical  social  science 
and  practical  philanthropy  has  been  recognized  by  the 
establishment  of  courses  in  causes  of  poverty,  charities, 
penology,  and  industrial  betterment  in  most  of  the  uni- 
versities and  colleges  of  the  country.  Men  who  have  had 
their  training  in  practical  charities  are  called  to  professor- 
ships, and  professors  become  the  leaders  of  charitable 
societies  and  movements.  College  graduates,  trained  in 
economics  and  social  science,  serve  their  apprenticeship 
in  the  offices  of  charitable  societies  under  the  guidance  of 
trained  agents,  and  become,  in  turn,  the  representatives  of  a 
new  profession.  As  charities  grow  complex  and  wider  in 
scope,  and  as  the  social  sciences  are  better  understood,  it  is 
seen  that  workers  with  definite  preparation  have,  in  this 
field  as  in  every  other,  an  advantage  over  those  who  have 
merely  dropped  into  the  field  from  some  other.  The  need 
of  technical  training  for  this  new  profession  has  been  still 
further  recognized  by  the  establishment  of  special  schools 
of  philanthropy  and  of  training  classes  for  volunteer 
visitors. 

Among  salaried  employees  of  charitable  societies,  Mr. 
Homer  T'olks  found  in  1893  three  tolerably  distinct  types  : 
the  first  was  the  man  considerably  past  middle  age,  who 
had  outlived  his  usefulness  in  any  other  line,  and  who,  by 
reason  of  his  unusual  goodness,  was  supposed  to  be  an  ac- 
ceptable alms  distributer.  In  the  second  type,  the  great 
excellency  lay  in  clerical  ability ;  work  for  a  charitable 
agency  was  the  same  as  work  for  a  dry-goods  firm,  a  grain 
warehouse,  or  a  street-cleaning  department,  except  that  the 
wages  were  somewhat  less.  The  third  type  differed  from  the 
other  two  in  that  the  man  considered  the  work  a  profession, 
as  other  men  regarded  journalism,  law,  theology,  or  medi- 
cine.    He  entered  the  work  because  it  was  to  him  the  most 


TltE   TREND   OF  AlODERN  CHARITY.  463 

inviting  field  of  service.  At  that  time  those  who  belonged 
to  the  third  class  commonly  had  no  preparation  especially- 
designed  to  fit  them  for  their  work.  Many  had  been  min- 
isters or  teachers,  some  journalists,  and  a  few  lawyers. 
Among  the  older  men  a  majority  had  perhaps  been  fitted 
for  the  ministry,  and  among  the  younger  men  a  consider- 
able number  were  those  who  would  have  been  ministers 
at  an  earlier  time.^  Among  the  young  men  and  women 
studying  social  science  in  American  colleges  at  the  present 
time,  there  are  many  who  would  never  have  thought  of 
becoming  ministers  or  foreign  missionaries,  who  yet  turn 
to  the  new  profession  of  charity  worker  or  neighborhood 
worker  as  a  field  of  congenial  and  unselfish  social  service. 
Salaries  for  this  profession  are  still  too  often  graded  ac- 
cording to  the  deserts  of  the  first  two  classes  of  workers 
mentioned  by  Mr.  Folks,  and  meagre  salaries  are  even  de- 
fended by  people  who  seem  to  think  that  in  philanthropy 
as  in  teaching,  the  worker  should  put  away  the  normal 
human  desire  for  reasonable  comfort  and  pleasure.  Those 
who  willingly  contribute  to  the  support  of  a  six-thousand- 
dollar  clergyman  will  frequently  insist  that  fifteen  hundred 
per  year  is  ample  for  the  paid  secretary  of  a  charitable 
society.  One  who  enters  this  new  profession  must  be  will- 
ing, of  course,  to  make  sacrifices  for  the  work ;  clergymen 
expect  to  bring  to  their  work  some  measure  of  self-sacrifice, 
but  that  does  not  preclude  the  possibility  of  their  being  well 
paid.  A  clergyman  on  an  adequate  salary  can  render  bet- 
ter service  than  one  on  the  verge  of  dependence.  Mr.  Folks 
well  urged  that  the  salaried  agent  of  a  charitable  society 
ought  not  to  allow  others  to  assess  his  personal  contribution 
to  the  work  and  collect  it  in  advance  by  requiring  him  to 

^  See  "  College  Men  in  Benevolent  Work,"  Proceedings  of  Section  VII., 
International  Congress  of  Charities,  Correction,  and  Philanthropy,  held 
at  Chicago,  1893.  (Baltimore,  Hopkins  Press,  1894.)  To  the  same  volume 
Miss  Anna  L.  Dawes  contributed  a  valuable  paper  on  "  The  Need  of  a 
Training  School  for  a  New  Profession." 


464  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

work  for  excessiv-ely  low  wages.  There  was  a  time  when 
it  was  said  that  no  man  ought  to  take  a  salary  from  a  char- 
itable society  unless  he  would  himself  otherwise  be  an  ob- 
ject of  charity.  That  time  has  passed,  though  there  is  still  a 
current  theory  that  by  paying  a  charity  worker  a  little  less 
than  he  could  earn  elsewhere,  a  self-sacrificing  temper  is  as- 
sured. As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  niggardly  policy  simply 
insures  the  drafting  off  of  the  best  ability  to  other  lines  of 
work  which  afford  equal  opportunity  for  unselfishness  and 
more  just  compensation ;  and  the  retention  in  charity  work 
of  some  who  could  scarcely  find  a  place  elsewhere. 

Many  young  men  and  women  are  ready  to  consecrate 
themselves  to  the  work  ;  but  they  are  not  ready,  and  ought 
not  to  be  ready,  to  consecrate  themselves  on  terms  that 
make  good  work  impossible.  In  addition  to  consecration 
and  native  intelligence,  the  successful  paid  charity  worker 
must  have  a  tolerably  expensive  education  continuing  through 
life,  and  the  sound  health  that  enables  a  man  to  preserve 
enthusiasm,  clear  vision,  and  undulled  sympathies  through 
years  of  harassing  work.  While  in  the  service  of  the  poor 
we  may  hope  to  secure  consecration  and  possibly  intelli- 
gence for  nothing,  education  and  health  are  things  that  cost 
money,  and  must  be  paid  for. 

The  considerations  here  urged  are  already  accepted  as 
sound  by  the  more  progressive  leaders  in  charitable  enter- 
prises, especially  in  the  large  cities  where  expert  service  is 
most  essential.  With  a  body  of  intelligent  and  specially 
trained  experts,  giving  their  time  and  energies  to  the  right  de- 
velopment of  the  various  branches  of  charitable  effort,  definite 
and  constant  advances  may  be  expected.  Indeed,  even  with 
the  comparatively  small  number  of  trained  persons  already 
engaged  in  benevolent  undertakings,  there  is  a  new  spirit 
and  impetus  apparent  in  the  work.  The  period  is  one  pre- 
eminently of  investigation.  No  sooner  is  some  phase  of 
social  evil  described  by  those  engaged  in  practical  charity, 


THE  TREND   OF  MODERN  CHARITY.  465 

than  an  inquiry  is  proposed,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  research 
workers,  tlie  implements  of  modern  science,  and  the  re- 
sources of  wealth  are  brought  to  bear  upon  it.  To  know 
thoroughly  and  then  to  remedy  in  the  light  of  knowledge 
acquired,  is  the  attitude  of  philanthropic  leadership. 

Whether  this  vigorous  policy  of  finding  out  result  in  re- 
afiirming  that  the  causes  of  dependence  lie  in  the  inherent 
weakness  of  character ;  or  whether  there  is  a  party  of  the 
second  part  in  the  organized  forces  of  corruption,  injustice, 
and  predatory  greed,  which  must  be  dealt  with  by  radical 
methods;  or  whether  the  facts  will  sustain  the  socialists  in 
their  contention  that  the  ills  are  too  deep-seated  to  be  remedied 
by  anything  short  of  an  overthrow  of  the  industrial  order, 
is  beside  the  purpose  of  this  discussion.^  The  modern 
charity  worker  has  been  so  far  educated  by  his  task  that  he 
now  demands  that  ultimately  justice  shall  precede  charity, 
and  prevention  take  the  place  of  cure.  It  was  once  the 
accepted  doctrine  that  prosperity  and  happiness  were  the 
natural  results  and  reward  of  goodness,  but  the  social  worker 
in  daily  contact  with  the  poor  sees  that  their  poverty  comes 
from  a  deeper  source  than  the  vices  or  virtues  of  the  in- 
dividual —  from  sources  which  can  be  reached  only  by 
industrial  and  social  changes  which  it  is  beyond  the  power 
of  a  single  generation  to  make.  In  the  knowledge  of  this 
fact,  the  charitable  are  filled  with  a  true  humility  in  the 
presence  of  the  poor  and  without  revelling  in  sentimentalities, 
still  helping  those  who  need  help,  they  take  part  at  the 
same  time  in  the  greater  movement  for  the  abolition  of  the 
conditions  which  make  dependence  inevitable. 

1  Kellogg,  "  Charities  and  the  Commons,"  vol.  xvi.,  1906,  pp.  292-293. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The  amount  of  American  material  on  charities  and 
philanthropy  is  now  so  great  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
print  here  anything  more  than  a  selected  bibliography. 
The  titles  of  books  and  articles  which  are  included  in  this 
list  comprise  those  used  by  Professor  Warner  in  the  first 
edition;  and  others  published  since  1894,  of  special  value 
to  the  teacher  and  student.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to 
cover  fully  the  history  of  philanthropy  in  this  country  nor 
to  meet  the  needs  of  research  workers,  but  rather  to  select 
what  would  constitute  a  good  working  guide  to  material 
generally  accessible. 

In  the  field  of  charities,  particularly,  the  use  of  periodical 
literature  is  essential.  The  articles  listed  have  been  care- 
fully selected  and  relate  to  many  subjects  in  the  wider 
field  of  general  philanthropy  as  well  as  to  technical 
charities,  and  are  intended  to  suggest  collateral  lines  of 
reading  as  well.  Attention  is  called  to  many  special  bibli- 
ographies accessible  in  the  books  and  magazines  named 
below 

To  the  inexperienced  student  some  suggestions  are 
offered  concerning  current  publications  which  are  of  spe- 
cial value,  although  they  are  not  always  found  in  complete 
files  even  in  large  libraries.  The  most  important  of  these 
are  :  Proceedings  of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities 
and  Corrections,  (N.C.C.),  with  its  Cumulative  Index  and 
Guide;  reports  of  the  State  Boards  of  Charities  and  the 
State  Boards  of  Control,  a  list  of  which,  with  addresses  of 
secretaries,  is   published  each  year  in  N.C.C.;  reports  of 

467 


468  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

Charity  Organization  societies,  Associated  Charities,  etc.,  of 
cities ;  directories  of  charities  of  the  larger  cities ;  reports 
of  State  Conferences  of  Charities,  of  which  a  list  is  pub- 
lished in  the  current  volumes  of  N.C.C. 

Occasional  articles  on  philanthropy  appear  in  nearly  all 
the  economic  periodicals,  but  the  American  Journal  of  Soci- 
ology and  the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Politi- 
cal and  Social  Science  contain  the  most  useful  material. 
Charities  Magazine  (1897  if.),  which  became  Charities  and 
the  Commons  in  1905,  —  the  technical  magazine  of  phi- 
lanthropy, —  is  indispensable  in  the  study  of  current  phil- 
anthropic movements. 

List  of  Abbreviations. 

Am.  Jo.  of  Inebriety  —  American  Journal  of  Inebriety. 
Am.  Jo.  of  Soc.  —  American  Journal  of  Sociology. 
Am.  Statist.  Assoc.  —  American  Statistical  Association. 
Annals  —  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science. 
Allan.  Mo.  —  Atlantic  Monthly. 
Char.  Bev.  — Charities  Review. 
C.O.S.  — Charity  Organization  Society. 

I.e.  C.C.P.  —  International  Congress  of  Charities  and  Correction. 
N.C.C.  —  Proceedings   of    National    Conference    of    Charities  and 
Corrections. 

N.A.R.  —  North  American  Review. 

Pop.  Sci.  Mo.  — Popular  Science  Monthly. 

Quart.  Jo.  of  Econ.  —  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics. 

A 

Acton,  W.     Prostitution  Considered.     London,  Churchill,  1870. 
Addams,  Jane.     Democracy  and  Social  Ethics.     New  York,  Macmil- 
lan,  1902.     Newer  Ideals  of  Peace.     New  York,  Macmillan,  1907. 

Administration  : 

Almy,  F.,  N.C.C,  1904  (use  of  volunteers  by  public  officials). 
Atwater,  W.  O.,  N.C.C,  1901  (dietaries  of  insane  hospitals). 
Brown,  J.  W.,  N.C.C,  1900  (employers). 


Bibliography.  469 

Chapin,  T.  F.,  N.C.C,  1902  (dietaries). 
Folks,  H.,  N.C.C.,  1904;  Annals,  v.  23  (problems). 
Fox,  Hugh,  N.C.C.,  1900  (centralizing  tendencies). 
See  also  Supervision  and  Control. 

Alden,  Percy.     The  Unemployed.     London,  P.  S.  King  and  Son,  2d 
ed.,  1905.     Bibliography,  English  and  Continental  material. 

Allen,  E.  E.     Education  of  Defectives.     Albany,  N.Y.,  J.  B.  Lyons 
Company,  Printers,  1904.     Bibliography,  deaf  mutes  and  blind. 

Allen,  W.  H.     Efficient  Democracy.     New  York,  Dodd,  1907. 

Almshouses: 

Bicknell,  E.  P.,  Charities,  1904-1905,  v.   13:72  (state  control); 

N.C.C.,  1896  (discipline). 
Clark,  Mary  V.,  N.C.C.,  1900  (classification  and  management). 
EUwood,  C.  A.,  Bulletin  on  Almshouses  in  3Iissouri ;  N.C.C., 

1903. 
Hebberd,  R.  W.,  Char.  Bev.,  1900,  v.  10,  nos.  11  and  12  (histori- 
cal). 
Giles,  H.  H.,  N.C.C.,  1884  (location  and  management). 
Johnson,  W.  L.  A.,  JSr.C.C,  1900  (in  Kansas). 
Lincoln,  Alice  N.,  N.C.C,  1898  (classification,  etc.);   N.C.C., 

1902  (almshouse  hospital)  ;  X.C.C.,  1905  (English  system). 
New  York  State  Board  of  Charities,  10th  Kept.,  1877  (descriptive 

and  historical). 
Coolidge  [Smith],  M.  R.,  Am.  Statist.  Assoc,  1895,  v.  4,  n.s.  31, 

Almshouse  Women  (descriptive  and  statistical). 
Story  of  Ward  L  (almshouse  employment).  Charities,  etc.,  v. 

13-17,  index. 
Tower,  E.,  Charities,  etc.,  1907,  v.  18  :  329. 
Wright,  A.  0.,  N.C.C.,  1889  (employment). 
Amos,   Sheldon.      Prohibition,    Regulation,  and  Licensing  of  Vice. 
London,  Stevens  and  Sons,  1877. 

Ansell,  Charles,  Jr.     Rate  of  Mortality,  etc.,  in  TTppcr  and  Profes- 
sional Classes.    London,  Layton. 

Arlidge,  J.  T.     The  Hygiene,  Diseases,  and  Mortality  of  Occupations. 

London,  Percival,  1892. 
Ashley,  W.  J.     An  Introduction  to  English  Economic  History  and 

Theory.      Pt.  II  — The  End  of  the  Middle  Ages.      New  York, 

Putnam's,  1905. 


470  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

B 

Babies,  see  Children. 

Baluffi    \_Cardinal'\.    The   Charity  of  the   Church  a  Proof   of    her 

Divinity.     Translated  from  the  Italian.     Dublin,  Gill,  1886. 
Barr,    Martin    W.      Mental    Defectives.     Philadelphia,    Blakiston's 

Sons,  1904. 
Barrows,  S.  J.     The  Criminal  Insane.     Washington,  Govt.  Printing 

Office,  1898. 
Bell,  Alexander  G.     Memoir  upon  the  Formation  of  a  Deaf  Variety 

of  the  Human  Race.     National  Academy  of  Sciences,  1884. 

Bell,  Alexander  G.     Marriage :    An  Address  to  the  Deaf.     Volta 

Bureau,  AVashington,  D.C.,  1891. 
Betts,  Lilian  W.     The  Leaven  of  a  Great  City.     Nev?  York,  Dodd, 

Mead  &  Co.,  1903. 
Billings,  John   S.,  Ed.     Physiological  Effects  of  Alcohol.     2   vols. 

(Committee  of  Fifty).     New  York  and  Boston,  Houghton,  Mifflin 

&  Co.,  1903. 

Billings,  J.  S.,  and  Hurd,  H.  M.  Hospitals,  Dispensaries  and  Nurs- 
ing. Section  III,  /.  C.  C.  C.  P.  Baltimore,  Johns  Hopkins  Press, 
1894. 

Bohmert,  Victor.  Armenwesen  in  77  Deutschen  Stadten.  Dresden, 
1887. 

Booth,  Charles.  Pauperism  and  the  Endowment  of  Old  Age.  London 
and  New  York,  Macmillan,  1892. 

Booth,  Charles.  Life  and  Labor  of  the  People  of  London.  17  vols. 
London,  Macmillan,  1892-l!)0:l 

Booth,  Charles.  Old-Age  Pensions  and  the  Aged  Poor.  London, 
Macmillan,  1899. 

Booth,  William  [General}.  In  Darkest  England  and  the  Way  Out. 
New  York,  Funk  and  Wagnalls,  1890. 

Bosanquet,  3frs.  Bernard  [Helen  Dendy].  Rich  and  Poor.  London, 
Macmillan,  1898. 

Bosanquet,  3/r.s.  Bernard  [Helen  Dendy].  The  Standard  of  Life. 
London,  Macmillan,  1899. 

Bosanquet,  Mrs.  Bernard  [Helen  Dendy].  The  Strength  of  the 
People.     London  and  New  York,  Macmillan,  1902. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  471 

Brace,  Charles  Loring.     Gesta  Christi.     New  York,  Armstrong,  1882. 
Brackett,  J.  R.     Supervision  and  Education  in  Charity.     New  York, 
Macmillan,  1903. 

Brandenburg,  Broughton.  Imported  Americans.  New  York,  Stokes, 
1905. 

Brandt,  Lilian.  Five  Hundred  and  Seventy-four  Deserters  and  their 
Families.  Pub.  by  Committee  on  Social  Research,  New  York 
C.O.S.,  1905. 

Brantwaite,  R.  Welsh,  M.D.  Inebriety:  Its  Causation  and  Control. 
Am.  Jo.  of  Inebriety,  winter  and  spring  nos.  1907  (vol.  29,  nos. 
4  and  5).     Boston. 

Brooks,  John  Graham.  The  Social  Unrest.  New  York,  Macmillan, 
1903. 

Brown,  Mary  Wilcox.     Thrift.     New  York,  Macmillan,  1899. 

Burdett,  Sir  H.  C.  Hospitals  and  Charities.  Yearbook  of  Philan- 
thropy and  the  Hospital  Annual.     London,  Scientific  Press. 


Calkins,  Raymond.  Substitutes  for  the  Saloon.  Boston,  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co.,  1901.     (Committee  of  Fifty.) 

Capen,  E.  W.  The  Historical  Development  of  the  Poor  Law  of  Con- 
necticut.    Vol.  22  of  Columbia  Studies.      University  Press,  1907. 

Census  of  the  United  States  :  Special  Reports.  The  Blind  and  the 
Deaf,  1900.  Paupers  in  Almshouses,  1904.  Insane  and  Feeble- 
minded in  Hospitals  and  Institutions,  1904.  Benevolent  Institu- 
tions, 1904.  Contains :  orphanages  and  children's  homes,  day 
nurseries,  hospitals,  dispensaries,  permanent  homes,  temporary 
homes,  schools  and  homes  for  the  deaf  and  blind.  Bulletin  69  : 
Child  Labor  in  the  United  States,  1907  ;  Bulletin  68  :  Child  Labor 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  1906. 

Chalmers,  Thomas.     Christian  and  Civic  Economy  of  Large  Towns. 

Abridged  and  edited  by  Professor  C.  R.  Henderson.     New  York, 

Scribner's,  1900. 
Chance,   W.      Children    under   the   Poor   Law.      London,    Sonnen- 

schein,  1897. 

Charities  : 

Coler,  B.  S.,  Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  v.  55:155  (abuses  of  public). 
Frankel,  Lee,  Annals,  v.  21 :  383  (Jewish). 


472  AMEBICAN   CHARITIES. 

Giddings,  F.  H.,  Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  v.   55:433  (and  private  vigil- 
ance). 

Charities  :  Financiering. 

Ginger,  Mina,  N.C.C.,  1906. 
Ogden,  I.  C,  Charities,  etc.,  v.  18  :  227. 
Patterson,  W.  R.,  N.C.C.,  1906. 
Tucker,  F.,  N.C.C.,  1899,  1906. 
Ufford,  W.  S.,  N.C.C.,  1906. 
Wilcox,  A.,  N.C.C.,  1897. 
Annals,  v.  21  :  58  (pooling  system). 
Char.  Bev.,  1898,  V.  8:119. 

:  Medical,  see  Medical  Charities. 

:  State  Supervision  : 


Curtis,  F.  G.,  N.C.C.,  1905. 

Hart,  H.  H.,  N.C.C.,  1902. 

White,  W.  J.,  N.C.C.,  1907. 
Charities   Magazine.     14  vols.,    1897-Nov.   1,    1905;    then    became 

Charities  and  the  Commons;  in  March,  19QiJ,  Jewish  Charity  was 

consolidated  with  it.    Published  at  105  E.  22d  St.,  New  York  City. 

(Indispensable  for  current  events  and  tendencies  in  philanthropy.) 
Charities  Beview.     1891-1900,  10  vols.,  consolidated  with  Charities 

Magazine  in  1901.     Published  at  105  E.  22d  St.,  New  York.     (Of 

historical  value  chiefly.) 

Charity  : 

Addams,  Jane,  Atlan.  Mo.,  Feb.,  1899,  p.  163  (subtle  problems  of). 

Allen,  W.  H.,  N.A.B.,  1905,  v.  181  :  24  (importance  of  publicity). 

Brackett,  J.  R.,  N.C.C.,  1901,  1904,  1906  (training  of  workers). 

Cummings,  E.,  Quart.  Jo.  of  Ecnn.,  1898,  v.  12  :  27  (and  progress). 

Devine,  E.  T.,  N.C.C.,  1900  (dominant  note  of  philanthropy). 

Hadley,  A.  T.,  N.C.C.,  1895  (science  and  sentiment  in  economics). 

Henderson,  C.  R.,  N.C.C.,  1899  (progress);  Atlan.  Mo.,  1900,  v. 
85:249  (science  in);  Annals,  1903,  v.  21:233  (world  cur- 
rents in). 

Hutchinson,  Woods,  Char.  Bev.,  1898,  v.  8  :  897  (Darwinism  and 
Phil.). 

Kellogg,  Paul,  Charities,  etc.,  1906,  v.  16:291  (new  attitude). 

Lee,  Joseph,  Charities,  etc.,  1906,  v.  17  :  387  (and  democracy). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  473 

Peabody,   F.   G.,    Char.   Bev.,   1897,  v.   6:17   (qualifications  of 

worker) . 
Richmond,  M.  E.,  Char.  Bev.,  1897,  v,  6  :  308  (training  of  worker)- 
Wines,  F.  H.,  Annals,  1898,  v.  11  (and  sociology). 
Charities,  1905,   v.   14  and   15,  index   (^Pioneer  Work   in) ;    v. 

14  :  892  (growth  of  N.  C.C.). 
Charities,  etc.,  1908,  v.  19:397  (responsibility  of  Economists). 
Outlook,  1902,  V.  71  :  444  (trend  of  modern). 

Charity  0KGANizATi02sr : 

Almy,  F.,  Char.  Bev.,  1898,  v.  8  :  127  (church  districts). 

Bicknell,  E.  P.,  N.C.C.,  1904  (preparedness  of). 

Brackett,  J.  R.,  Char.  Bev.,  1897,  v.  6:  397  (employment  agen- 
cies) ;  Char.  Bev.,  1897,  v.  7  :  595  (district  plan)  ;  N.C.C., 
1897  ;  Charities,  1902,  v.  9 :  37  (relation  between  C.O.S.  and 
relief). 

DeForest,  R.  W.,  Charities,  1904-1905,  v.  13:316  (broadening 
sphere). 

Devine,  E.  T.,  JSf.C.C,  1899  (broadening  of). 

Felton,  Katharine,  X.C.C.,  1902  (status  in  the  West)  ;  N.C.C., 
1906  (Endorsement  Committee). 

George,  I.,  N.C.C.,  1894  (Denver  plan). 

Hodges,  Bev.  George,  Rept.  Buffalo  C.O.S. ,  1902,  p.  113  (aims). 

Hubbard,  C.  M.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1901,  v.  6,  no.  6  (relation  to 
relief). 

Johnson,  Alex.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1899,  v.  5,  p.  322  (wise  limits 
of). 

Loch,  C.  S.,  N.C.C.,  1896  (principles). 

Lowell,  Mrs.  J.  S.',  Forum,  1896,  v.  21  (aims)  ;  Char.  Rev.,  1896, 
V.  5 :  390. 

McLean,  F.  H.,  N.C.C.,  1904  (cooperation). 

Montgomery,  J.  B.,  N.C.C.,  1903. 

Prevey,  C.  E.,  Annals,  1899,  v.  14,  no.  1  (principles  and  eco- 
nomic justification). 

Richmond,  M.  E.,  N.C.C.,  1901  (cooperation);  Charities,  1902, 
V.  9:  496  (principles). 

Smith,  Zilpha,  Charities,  1903,  v.  10  :  124  (aims)  ;  Charities, 
etc.,  1906-1907,  v.  17  :  572  (definition)  ;  Charities,  1905,  v.  14, 
no.  6. 

The  Charity  Organization  Society  of  New  York.     Twenty-fifth 


474  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Annual  Report,  1907.     History  and  Present  Activities.     105  E. 
22d  St.,  New  York. 

Child-caee  : 

Butler,  A.  W.,  X.C.C,  1901,  1904. 

Byers,  J.  P.,  X.C.C.,  1901  (county  homes). 

Chapin,  H.  D.,  N.C.C.,  1898  (antliropological  study  of). 

Gushing,  G.  D.,  N.C.C.  (prevention  of  cruelty). 

Ellison,  T.  E.,  N.C.C,  1901  (Indiana  system). 

Folks,  H.,  N.C.C,  1895  (state  supervision). 

Fox,  Hugh,  N.C.C,  1904  (New  Jersey). 

Galen,  M.,  N.C.C,  1900  (tendencies). 

Hart,   H.   H.,  N.C.C,  1892  (economic  aspect);    N.C.C,   1903 

(cooperation  in);   N.C.C,  1906  (principles  of). 
Henderson,  C.  R.,  N.C.C,  1901  (neglected). 
Montgomery,  J.  B.,  N.C.C,  1904  (Michigan  system). 
Pear,  W.  H.,  N.C.C,  1906  (child's  need). 
Randall,  C.  D.,  N.C.C,  1901  (Michigan  system). 
Reeder,  R.  R.,  N.C.C,  1907  ;  Charities,  1903,  v.  11 :  14  (effect  of 

institution  life  on)  ;    Charities,  1904-1906,  vols.  13-17  ;   see 

index  for  articles  To  Country  and  Cottage. 
Woolen,  E.,  N.C.C,  1901  (Indiana  system). 
Report  of  Committee  on  Child-saving,  N.C.C,  1893  (history). 
State  Charities  Aid  Association,  1899,  pamphlet  no.  72  (care  of 

destitute  children  in  New  York). 

Children  —  in  Almshouses  : 

Folks,  H.,  N.C-C,  1894;  Charities,  1904,  v.  13 :  19. 

:  Babies  : 

Charities,  1905,  v.  14,  nos.  14  and  19  (symposium  on)  ;  Charities, 
etc.,  1907,  V.  18  :  232  (in  institutions). 

:  Boarding-out  : 


Report  of  State  Board  of  Charities,  Massachusetts,  1901. 
Jacobs,  B.,  N.C.C,  1904  (Mass.). 

— :  Crippled  and  Deformed: 

N.C.C,  1898,  1904. 

— :  Day  Nurseries  : 

Charities,  1904,  v.  12 :  765  (history)  ;  N.C.C,  1897,  1906. 
Report  of  Associated  Charities,  Boston,  1904. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  475 


Placing-out  : 


Evans,  Mrs.  G.,  N.C.C.,  1907  (after-supervision). 
Fairbanks,  M.  E.,  N.C.C,  1904  (visitation  in  homes). 
Folks,  H.,  Char.  Rev.,  1896,  v.  5  :  140. 
Charities,  etc.,  1906,  v.  16  :  263  (Jewisii). 
See  also  Defectives. 

Children's  Institutions  —  Subsidies  to,  see  Subsidies. 
Child  Labor  and  Philanthropy: 

Folks,  H.,  Charities,  1903,  v.  10  :  254. 

Kelley,  F.,  X.C.C,  1906. 

Lovejoy,  0.  R.,  N.C.C.,  1907. 

Lindsay,  S.  M.,  N.C.C.,  1906. 

Annals,  vols.  25  and  29  ;  see  index  for  valuable  articles. 

Child  Labor  —  Bibliography  : 

Library  of  Congress,  1906.  Superintendent  of  Public  Documents, 
Washington,  D.C. 

The  Children's  Aid  Society  of  New  York.     Its  history,  plan,  and  re- 
sults.    Published  by  the  society,  1893. 

City  Life  —  Bibliographies  of: 

Balch,  Emily  G.  Published  by  The  College  Settlements  Associa- 
tion, 1904.  (Secretary,  Miss  S.  G.  Tompkins,  1904  Walnut 
St.,  Philadelphia. 

Brooks,  R.  C,  in  Municipal  Affairs,  1901,  vrhole  no.  17,  v.  5:  no. 
1  (2d  ed.). 

Civil  Service,  see  Politics  in  Institutions. 

Coler,  B.  S.     Municipal  Government.     Appleton,  New  York,  1900. 

Committee  of  Fifty  —  Publications,  see 
Billings,  Physiological  Effects  of  Alcohol. 
Calkins,  Substitutes  for  the  Saloon. 
Koren,  Economic  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem. 
Peabody,  The  Liquor  Problem. 
Wines  and  Koren,  Legislative  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem. 

Consumption,  see  Tuberculosis. 

Control,  see  Supervision  and  Control. 

Conyngton,  Mary.     How  to  Help.     New  York,  Ronald  Press,  1906. 


476  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

Coolidge,  Mary  Roberts  [Smith].     Monograph:  Almshouse  Women. 
Am.  Statist.  Assoc,  1895,  v.  4. 

CooPERA^'ioisr,  see  Charity  Organization. 

Crocker,  J.  H.     Problems  in  American  Society.     Boston,  Ellis,  1889. 
Cunningham,  "W.     Growth   of  English  Industry  and  Commerce  in 

Modern  Times.    4th  ed.,  Pt.  1,  Mercantile  System;  Pt.  2,  Laissez- 

Faire.     Cambridge  University  Press,  1907. 


D 

Davenport-Hill  and  Fowke.     Children  of  the  State.     London,  Mac- 

millan,  1889. 


i 


Day  Nurseries,  see  Children, 

Deaf,  Mutes  and  Blind,  see  Bibliography  in  Allen,  Edu- 
cation of  Defectives,  Publications  of  the  Volta  Bureau, 
Washington,  D.C. 

Defectives  : 

Bancroft,  M.,  N.C.C.,  1901  (classification). 

Ban,  M.  W.,  Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  1898,  v.  51  (training). 

Bicknell,  E.   P.,    Char.    Rev.,    1895,    v.   6:76    (custodial  care); 

N.C.C.,  189G  (heredity). 
Butler,  A.  W.,  N.C.C.,  1907  (burden  of). 
Carson,  J.  C,  N.C.C.,  1898  (prevention). 
Dunlap,  M.  J.,  N.C.C.,  1899  (progress  in  care). 
Fernald,  W.  E.,  N.C.C.,  1902  (Mass.  Farm  Colony  for). 
Fitzsimmons,  T.  C,  N.C.G.,  190(5  (institutions  for,  in  Penn.). 
Johnson,  Alex.,  N.C.C.,  1896  (custodial  care);  1903  (segregation), 

Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1898,  v.  4,  November. 
Polglace,  W.  A.,  N.C.C.,  1901  (progress  in  care  of). 
Powell,  F.  M.,  N.C.  C,  1897  ;   Char.  Rev.,  v.  7  :  674. 
Rogers,  A.  C,  N.C.C.,  1903  (colonizing). 
Wines,  F.  H.,  Char.  Rev.,  1895,  v.  5  (unbalanced  people). 
Charities,  1905,  v.  14  :764  (emasculation  of). 

:  Backward  Children: 


Chace,  L.  G.,  X.C.C,  1904  ;  Charities,  1904,  v.  12  : 900. 
Fernald,  W.  E.,  Public  Education  Assoc,  Philadelphia,  1906. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  477 

:  Bibliography  in  Shuttleworth,  Mentally  Deficient 

Children  (1895). 

See  also  Epileptics  and  Inebriates. 
DeForest,  R.  "W.,  and  Veiller,  L.     The  Tenement   House  Problem. 

2  vols.     New  York,  Macmillan,  1903. 

The  Development  of  Public  Charities  in  Indiana.    Indianapolis,  1904. 

Pub.  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  (pamphlet). 
Devine,  E.  T.    The  Practice  of  Charity.     New  York,  Dodd,  Mead  & 

Co.,  2ded.,  1904. 
Devine,  E.  T.     Principles  of  Relief.     New  York,  Macmillan,  1904. 

DiSPEXSARIES  : 

Kirkbride,  Annals,  1904,  v.  23  :  424. 

Shrady,  G.  F.,  Fonim,  1897,  June  (and  pauperism). 

Report  N.  Y.  State  Board  of  Charities,  1899. 

District,  see  Charity  Organization. 

Drage,  Geoffrey.     The  Unemployed.     London,  Macmillan,  1894. 

Drunkenness  : 

Melendy,  R.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1900,  v.  6,  nos.  3  and  4  (prevention). 
Moore,  E.  C,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1900,  v.  6,  no.  1  (psychology  of). 
Wines,  F.  H.,  Char.  Bev.,  1897,  v.  7  :  721  and  838  (law  and  drink). 

:  Bibliography  in  Keren,  Economic  Aspects  of  the 

Liquor  Problem. 
Dugdale,  R.  L.     The  Jukes.     New  York,  Putnam's,  1888. 

E 

EUwood,  C.  A.  A  Bulletin  on  the  Condition  of  the  County  Alms- 
houses of  Missouri.     Columbia,  Mo.,  1904. 

Ely,  Richard  T.  Studies  in  the  Evolution  of  Industrial  Society.  New 
York,  Macmillan,  1903. 

Emminghaus,  A.  Poor  Relief  in  Different  Parts  of  Europe.  London, 
Stanford,  1873. 

Endowments  : 

Allen,  W.  A.,  Atlan.  Mo.,  1907,  v.  99  :  328. 

Devine,  E.  T.,  Charities,  etc.,  1907,  v.  18  :  355. 

Baron  de  Hirsch  Fund.  Charities,  etc.,  1905,  v.  16  :  270. 

Russell  Sage  Foundation,  Charities,  etc.,  1906-1907,  Y.  17,  no.  25, 


478  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Employers'  Liability  Bibliography,  published  by  the 

Library  of  Congress,  Washington,  D.C.,  1907. 
Employment,  Special  : 

Charities,  etc.,  1905-1906,  v.  15:582;   Charities,  etc.,  v.  16:470 
(for  the  handicapped). 

Environment,  see  Heredity. 

Epileptics  : 

Peterson,  Dr.  F.,  Assoc. /or  Study  of  Epilepsy,  1902,  v.  1  (causes). 
Rutter,  H.  C,  Char.  Rev.  1897,  v.  6  :  409  (Ohio  colony). 
Spratling,  W.  P.,  N.C.C.,  1898  (labor  for)  ;  N.C.C.,  1903  (ideal 

colony);  Charities,  etc.,  1906,  v.  17:566  (conditions  in  New 

York). 


Fairlie,  J.  A.  The  Centralization  of  Administration  in  New  York 
State.  Studies  in  History,  etc.,  v.  9,  no.  3,  Columbia  University, 
1897. 

Families,  Needy,  see  Eelief. 

Family  Desertion: 

Brooks,  J.  G.,  N.C.C.,  1901  (problems  of). 

Charities,  1904,  v.  14,  nos.  3,  4,  15,  17  ;  Charities,  1905,  v.  15,  nos. 
5,  10,  23  ;  V.  16,  no.  8  (discussions  and  articles). 

Farr,  William.     Vital  Statistics.    London,  Stanford,  1885. 

Feeble-minded,  see  Defectives. 

Financiering,  see  Charities. 

Fitch,  Dr.  J.  G.    Endowments.    Address  :  Proceedings  of  the  Second 

Annual  Convention  of  the  College  Association  of  Pennsylvania. 

1888. 
Folks,  Homer.     Care  of  Destitute,  Neglected,  and  Delinquent  Children. 

New  York,  Macraillan,  1902. 

Fowle,  T.  W.     The  English  Poor  Law.     London,  Macmillan,  1890. 

Friendly  Visiting  : 

Codman,  3Irs.  H.  G.,  N.C.G.,  1904. 

Charities,    etc.,  1906,  v.    16,  no.  23  (comparison  of  Boston  and, 
Buffalo). 


BIBLIOGEAPHT.  479 

Freund,   Ernst.     Police    Power.      Public  Policy  and   Constitutional 
Rights.     Chicago,  Callaghan  &  Co.,  1904. 

G 

Galton,  Francis.     Hereditary  Genius.     New  York,  Appleton,  1871. 
Galton,  Francis.     Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty.     London,  Macmillan, 

1883;  Dent,  1907. 
Gibbins,  H.    de  B.     The   Industrial   History  of  England.    London, 

Methuen,  1900.     7th  ed.,  revised. 
Gladden,  Washington.     Christian  Pastor  and  the  Working  Church, 

New  York,  Scribner's,  1898. 
Gladden,   Washington.      Social    Salvation.      New  York,    Houghton, 

Mifflin,  1902. 


Hadley,  A.  T.  Standards  of  Public  Morality.  New  York,  Macmil- 
lan, 1907. 

Hall,  Prescott  F.  Immigration  and  its  Effect  upon  the  United  States. 
New  York,  Holt,  1906. 

Handbook  of  Child  Labor  Legislation.  Published  annually  by  the 
National  Consumers  League  ;  in  1907,  as  supplement  to  volume  29 
of  Annals  of  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science. 

Handbook  on  the  Prevention  of  Tuberculosis.  Published  by  the 
Committee  on  the  Prevention  of  Tuberculosis,  105  E.  22d  St., 
New  York  City,  1903.     1st  ed. 

Henderson,  Charles  R.  Social  Settlements.  New  York,  Lentilhon, 
1899. 

Henderson,  Charles  R.  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Dependent, 
Defective,  and  Delinquent  Classes.     Boston,  Heath,  2d  ed.,  1901. 

Henderson,  Charles  R.  (assisted  by  others).  Modern  Methods  of 
Charity.  An  account  of  the  Systems  of  Relief,  public  and  private, 
in  the  principal  countries  having  modern  methods.  New  York, 
Macmillan,  1904.     Bibliographies  for  the  several  countries. 

Heredity  : 

Associated  Charities  of  Boston,  leaflet  no.  32  (and  pauperism). 

Cooley,  C.  H.,  N.G.C.,  1896  (and  environment). 

Dugdale,  R.  L.,  KC.C,  1877  (and  pauperism). 

Galton,  Francis,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1904,  v.  10  (Eugenics). 


480  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Hutchinson,  Woods,  Char.  Bev.,  1898,  v.  7  :  897  (survival  of  the 

tittest). 
Jordan,  D.  S.,  Arena,  June  (principles  applied  to  humankind). 
McCulloch,  O.  C,  N.C.C.,  1888  (the  Tribe  of  Ishmael). 
Powell,  F.  M.,  N.C.C.,  1899  (environment). 
Wines,  F.  H.,  Char. Bev.,  1898  v.  7  :  552. 
Charities,  1902,  v.  9,  nos.  3  and  4  (discussion). 

Heredity:  Bibliography  of  Race  Improvement  in  Ely, 
Evolution  of  Industrial  Society  (1903),  pp.  182-184. 

Herzfeld,  Elsa  G.    Family  Monographs.     History  of  24  families  living 

on  the  middle-west  side  of  New  York  City.    New  York,  Putnam's, 

1906. 
Hill,  Octavia.    Homes  of  the  London  Poor.    London,  Macmillan,  1883. 
Hobhouse,  Sir  Arthur.     The  Dead  Hand.     London,  Chatto,  1880. 
Hobson,  John  A.     The  Problem  of  the  Unemployed.     London,  Meth- 

uen,  1896. 
Hodder,  Edwin.     Life  and  Work  of  the  Seventh  Earl  of  Shaftesbury. 

3  vols.     London,  Cassell,  1886. 

Hospitals  : 

Allen,  W.  A.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1906  (efficiency). 

Banfield,  Maude,  Annals,  1902,  v.  20,  no.  2  (administration), 

Cleveland,  F.  A.,  Charities,  1905,  v.  15:250  (statistics). 

Hurd,  H.  M.,  Char.  Bev.,  1900,  index  (hospitals,  dispensaries,  and 

nursing).     Bibliography,  417-418. 
NicoU,  M.,  N.C.C.,  1906  (contagious  diseases). 
Char.  Bev.,  1898,  v.  8  :  437  (construction). 
Charities,  1903,  v.  10  :  67    (a  plea  for  small),    212    (needs  and 

finances). 
Charities,  etc.,  1906,  v.  16  :  287,  351  (needs  and  finances). 

Housing  : 

DeForest,  R.  W.,  Annals,  1904,  v.  23  (recent  progress). 

Veiller,  L.,  Ajinals,  1905,  v.  25  (principles). 

Wolfe,  A.  B.,  Harvard  Economic  Studies,  v.  2,  1906  (Boston). 

Annals,  1902,  v.  20  (symposium  on). 

Charities,  1904,  v.  12,  no.  20  (amended  New  York  law)  ;  v.  12, 
no.  29  (Washington,  D.C.)  ;  v.  13,  no.  1  (Buffalo)  ;  Charities, 
1905,  v.  14,  no.  1  (Philadelphia)  ;  no.  16  (model  tenements)  ; 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  481 

V.  15,  no.  14   (summary   of  improvements  in  New  York)  ; 
V.  18,  no.  9  (in  Wisconsin). 

:  Bibliography  in  : 

DeForest  and  Veiller,  Tenement  House  Problem,  v.  1,  1903. 
Devine,  Principles  of  Eelief  (1904),  p.  72. 

Howe,  Samuel  G.     Report  on  Idiocy  in  Massachusetts.     Boston,  Cool- 
idge,  1848. 

Huber,  John  B.    Consumption  and  Civilization.    Philadelphia,  Lippin- 
cott,  1906. 

Hull  House  Maps  and  Papers.     New  York,  Crowell,  1895. 

Hunter,  Robert.     Poverty.     New  York,  Macmillan,  1905. 

Hurd,  H.  M.,  and  Chapin,  J.  B.     Report  on  the  Hospitals  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  1898.     Washington,  Govt.  Printing  Office. 

I 

Idiocy,  see  Defectives. 

Immigratiox  : 

Claghorn,  K.  H.,  Annals,  1904,  v.  24:  185  (in  relation  to  pau- 
perism). 

U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor,  9th  Special  Rept.  (Italians  in  Chicago). 

Special  Consular  Reports,  v.  30, 1906  (emigration  to  United  States). 

Charities,  1904,  v.  12,  no.  6  (as  affecting  relief)  ;  no.  16  (what 
the  United  States  owes  to)  ;  see  index  of  later  volumes  for 
articles  on  different  nationalities. 

:  Bibliography  (elaborate),  published  by  the  Library 

of  Congress,  1907,  Washington,  D.C. 

:  DisTRiBUTiox,  see  Industrial  Removal  Office. 

Industrial  Removal  Office  : 

Charities,  1904,  v.  12,  no.  6 ;  1906,  v.  16  :  259  ;  1906-1907,  v.  18 : 
278. 

Loeb,  M.,  N.C.C.,  1906. 

Insane : 

Burr,  C.  B.,  N.C.C.,  1902  (state  supervision  of). 

Byers,  J.  P.,  N.C.C,  1899  (county  care). 

Copp,  0.,  N.C.C,  1907  (adequate  system  of  care). 


482  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Dewey,  R.,   Char.  Rev.,  1897,  v.  7;  iV^^CC,  1897;  N.C.C.,1Q05 

(after-care). 
Drewry,  W.  F.,  Char.  Rev.,  1896,  v.  5  (laws  of  commitment 

in  Southern  States). 
Fish,  J.  E.,  N.C.C.,  1007  (family  care  in  Mass.). 
Folks,  Homer,  N.C.C.,  1907  (after-care). 
Heg,  J.,  N.C.C.,  1896  (county  care). 

Lathrop,  J.  C,  N.C.C.,  1902  (foreign  methods  of  village  care). 
Richardson,  A.  B.,  N.C.C.,  1901. 

Sanborn,  F.  B.,  N.  C.  C,  1907  (history  of  care  in  private  families). 
Charities,  etc.,  1907,  v.  17,  no.  21  (symposium  on  care  in  Illinois). 
Report  State  Charities  Aid  Association  to  New  York  State  Com. 

in  Lunacy,  1906  (after-care  of  alien). 
State  Charities  Aid  Association,  pamphlet  no.  92  on  After-care, 

1906. 
Char.  Rev.,  1898,  v.  8  (Wisconsin  county  care). 

Insane  :  Psychopathic  Hospitals. 

Barrett,  N.C.C.,  1907. 

Lathrop,  J.  C,  N.C.C.,  1905. 

Mosher,  Dr.  J.  M.,  N.C.C.,  1907. 

Charities,  1905,  v.  14  :  828  ;  1906-1907,  v.  17  :  568. 

Institutions,  see  Administration;  Politics. 

Insurance,  see  Pensions  ;  Employers'  LiABiLiTr. 

Intemperance,  see  Drunkenness. 

International  Congress  of  Charities,  Corrections,  and  Philanthropy. 

Johns  Hopkins  Press,  Baltimore,  1894.  (Especially  volumes  on 
Organization  of  Charities,  and  on  Hospitals,  Dispensaries,  and 
Nursing  —  historical. ) 

Ireland,   Dr.   W.   W.      Mental    Affections   of    Children.      London, 
Churchill,  1900.     2d  ed. 

J 

Jordan,  D.  S.     Footnotes  to  Evolution.     New  York,  Appleton,  1898. 

K 

Keller,  F.  A.     Out  of   Work:  A  Study  of  Employment  Agencies, 
New  York  and  London,  Putnam's,  1905. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  483 

Kelley,  Florence.  Some  Ethical  Gains  through  Legislation.  New 
York,  Macmillan,  1906. 

Kelly,  Edmond.     Evolution  and  Effort.     New  York,  1895. 

Kelly,  Edmond.  The  Unemployables.  London,  P.  S.  King  &  Sons, 
1908. 

Kelly,  Edmond.     The  Elimination  of  the  Tramp. 

Kenny,  Courtney.     Endowed  Charities.     London,  Keeves,  1880. 

Knopf,  Dr.  S.  A.     Tuberculosis.     Prize  Essay  to  which  was  awarded 

first  prize  by  the  Berlin  International  Congress,  1900.     1st  ed. , 

New  York. 

Keren,  John.  Economic  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem.  (Com- 
mittee of  Fifty.)  Boston  and  New  York,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co., 
1902. 

L 
Lecky,  W.  E.  H.    History  of  European  Morals.    New  York,  Appleton, 
Lee,  Joseph.     Constructive  and  Preventive  Philanthropy.    New  York, 
Macmillan,  1902. 

LefEngwell,  Albert.    Illegitimacy.     New  York,  Scribner's,  1892. 
Legislation  : 

Comparative    Summary    and  Index  of    Legislation,   1890-date. 
Published  annually  by  New  York  State  Library,  Albany. 
Letchworth,  W.  P.     Care  and  Treatment  of  Epileptics.     New  York 

and  London,  Putnam's,  1900. 
Loch,  C.  S.     Charity  Organization.    London,  Swan  Sonnenschein, 
3d  ed.,  1905. 

M 

Macdonald,  Arthur.  Abnormal  Man.  United  States  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation, Circular  no.  4,  1893.  (Contains  elaborate  but  unselected 
bibliography  on  criminality,  pauperism,  heredity,  etc.) 

Mackay,  Thomas.  The  State  and  Charity.  London  and  New  York, 
Macmillan,  1898. 

Mackay,  Thomas.    Public  Relief  of  the  Poor.    London,  Murray,  1901. 

Marshall,  Alfred.  Principles  of  Economics.  London  and  New  York, 
4th  ed.,  1907. 

Medical  Charities  : 

Bijur,  Nathan,  N.C.C.,  1905  (ambulance  service  in  U.S.). 


48-4  AMERICAN   CHAhlTIES. 

Emerson,  C.  P.,  N.C.C.,  1906  (free). 

Frankel,  L.,  N.C.C,  1905  (convalescents). 

Hurd,  H.  M.,  Char.  Bev.,  1900,  nos.  7,  8,  9  ;  bibliography  in  no.  9. 

Kleene,  G.  A.,  Annals,  1904,  v.  23 :  409. 

Nutt,  Charities,  1905,  v.  14 :  752. 

Smith,  Stephen,  N.C.C.,  1898  ;   Char.  Bev.,  v.  8  (pauperization by). 

Wiggin,  F.  H.,  N.C.C.,  1898. 

See  also  Dispensaries,  Hospitals,  Norsing. 

Mendicancy,  see  Vagrancy. 

Millis,  H.  D.     Relief  and  Care  of  Dependents.     (Legislation.)     Am. 

Jo.  of  Soc,  V.  3,  1898,  see  index. 
More,  Mrs.  Louise  B.    Wage-earners'  Budgets.    New  York,  Holt,  1907. 
Morrow,  Dr.  Prince  A.     Social  Diseases  and  Marriage.     New  York 

and  Philadelphia,  1904. 

Municipal  Conditions,  see  City  Life. 

Miinsterberg,  Emil.     Poor  Relief  in  the  United  States.     Am.  Jo.  of 

Soc,  V.  7,  see  index. 
Miinsterberg,  Emil.      Impressions  of  American  Charity.     Char.  Bev., 

see  index,  vols.  17  and  18. 
Miinsterberg,   Emil.     Bibliographie    des    Armenwesens.     Berlin,   C. 

Heymanns  Verlag,  1900-1902. 

N 

Newsholme,  Arthur.     Elements  of  Vital  Statistics.     London,  Sonnen- 
schein,  3d  ed.,  1899. 

Nursing —  Visiting  : 

Aikens,  C.  A.,  N.C.C.,  1906  (educational  opportunity). 
Fisher,  L.  B.,  N.C.C.,  1905  (as  an  economic  factor). 
Fulmer,  H.,  N.G.C.,  1902  (work  of). 

Charities,  1905,  v.  14  :  732  (in  Concord,  N.H.)  ;   1905-1906,  v.  15  : 
73  (among  negroes)  ;  1906,  v.  16,  no.  1  (symposium  on). 


Oliver,  Thomas,  Ed.  Dangerous  Trades.  Historical,  social,  and 
legal  aspects  of  industrial  occupations  as  affecting  health.  London, 
Murray,  1902. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  485 

Oppenheim,  Nathan.     The  Development  of  the  Child.     New  York, 
Macmillan,  1902. 

P 

Palmer,  Charles  F.     Inebriety :    Its  Source,  Prevention,  and  Cure. 
New  York,  Revell,  1897. 

Parks  and  Playgrounds : 

American  Park  Systems.  Report  of  the  Philadelphia  Allied  Or- 
ganizations, 1905.     Headquarters:  Girard  Building. 

Charities,  The  Park  Number,  1904,  v.  12,  no.  31  ;  Play  Number, 
1907,  v.  18,  no.  18. 

:  Bibliography,  prepared  for  the  Committee  on  Vaca- 


tion Schools  and  Playgrounds  of  the  Council  for  Civic 
Cooperation,  Charities,  1904,  v.  12,  no.  13  :  358-360. 

Patten,  Simon  N.  Heredity  and  Social  Progress.  New  York,  Mac- 
millan, 1903. 

Patten,  Simon  N.  The  New  Basis  of  Civilization.  New  York,  Mac- 
millan, 1907. 

Peabody,  Francis  G.,  Ed.  The  Liquor  Problem.  A  Summary 
of  Investigations  conducted  by  the  Committee  of  Fifty,  1893-1903. 
New  York  and  Boston,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1905. 

Pensions  :  Bibliography  of  Old  Age  and  Civil  Ser- 
vice Pensions,  published  by  the  Library  of  Congress, 
1903. 

Butler,  A.  W.     X.C.C,  1906  (Govt,  and  municipal),  with  short 
bibliography  of  U.S.  Pensions. 

Philanthropy,  see  Charity. 

Placing-out,  see  Children. 

Politics  in  Institutions  : 

Blackmar,  F.  W.,  JSr.C.C,  1900. 

Blair,  J.  L.,  N.C.C.,  1902. 

Charities,    1904-1905,   v.   13,   index   (Illinois  and   New   York)  ; 

1905-1906,  V.   15,  no.  14  (Pennsylvania)  ;    1906,  v.   16,  no. 

14  :  405  ;  1906-1907,  v.  17,  no.  8  :  328. 
Fetter,  F.  A.,  N.C.C.,  1899  (on  the  Pacific  coast). 
Folks,  H.,  N.C.C.,  1904. 


486  AMERICAN  CHARITIES. 

Garrett,  P.  C,  N.C.G.,  1896. 

Hancock,  W.  S.,  N.C.C,  1900  (civil  service). 

Lowell,  Mrs.  J.  R.,  N.C.C.,  1898  (civil  service). 

Poor  Laws  of  the  United  States  : 
Gates,  W.  A.,  K.C.C.,  1899  (migration). 
Hart,  H.  H.,  N.C.C.,  1896  (migration). 

Henderson,  C.  R.,  Char.  Rev.,  1897,  v.  6  :  476 ;  N.  C.C,  1897, 1898. 
Millis,  H.  A.,  A7n.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1898,  v.  3,  index. 
Char.  Rev.,  1898,  v.  8  :  405  (Settlement  laws  in  Mass.). 

Poverty : 

Hoffmann,  F.  L.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  v.  27  :  485  (value  of  life)  ; 
N.C.C.,  1907  (statistics). 

:  Causes  : 

Ayres,  P.  W.,  Char.  Bev.,  1898,  v.  8 :  469  (case-counting). 

Brandt,  Lilian,  Rept.  N.  Y.  C.  O.  S.,  1906 ;  Charities,  etc.,  1906, 
v.  15:62;  Quart.  Jo.  of  Econ.,  1908  (new  methods  of 
study). 

Folks,  H.,  N.C.C.,  190.3  (disease  and  dependence)  ;  Charities, 
1903,  V.  10  :  255. 

Lindsay,  S.  M.,  N.C.C.,  1899  (case-counting). 

McLean,  F.,  Charities,  etc.,  1907,  v.  19  :  1203  (dangerous  trades). 

Simons,  A.  F.,  and  Weller,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1898,  v.  3  (unit 
method  of  study). 

Smith,  R.  Mayo-,  Rept.  N.  Y.  C.  O.  S.,  1897  (unit  method). 

Wines,  F.  H.,  Char.  Rev.,  1897,  v.  7:  545  (classification). 

New  York  State  Board  of  Charities,  10th  Report,  1877  (historical). 
Proceedings  of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction. 

34  vols.,  1874  ff.    Published  by  the  Conference.     Alexander  John- 
son, Secretary,  2139  No.  Pennsylvania  Ave.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

(indispensable  to  the  student). 
:  Cumulative  Index  to  the  Proceedings  of  N.  C.  C.     Published  by 

the  Conference. 
:  Guide  to  the  Proceedings  of  N.C.C.,  1908.     Published  by  the 

Conference  (very  useful). 

Psychopathic  Hospitals,  see  Insane. 

Publications  of  the  State  Charities  Aid  Association.     New  York,  nos. 

1-90  ;  also  Annual  Reports,  1873  ff.     Published  at  105  E.  22d  St., 

New  York,  by  the  Association. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  487 

R 

Race  Improvement:   Bibliography  in  Ely,  Evolution  of 
Industrial  Society,  1903,  pp.  182  ff. 

Reeder,  R.  R.     To  Country  and  Cottage.     Series  of  articles  in  Chari- 
ties, vols.  13-17,  see  index. 

Relief  : 

Ayres,  P.  W.,  N.C.C.,  1899  (associations). 

Devine,  E.  T.,  Charities,  1903,  v.  11 :  540  ;  1905,  v.  15  :  145. 

Frankel,  L,,  N.C.C.,  1903  (uses  of  material). 

Hebberd,  R.  W.,  Char.  Bev.,  1901  (public  indoor). 

Simkhovitch,  M.  K.,  Charities,  1904,  v.  13  :  578  (the  Settlement 

and). 
Associated  Charities,  Boston,  pamphlet  no.  83  (adequate). 
Charities,  1903,  v.  11  :  350  (charity  transportation). 

:  Out-door: 

Almy,  F.,  Char.  Bev.,  1899,  v.  11  :  31;  N.C.C.,  1900  (statistics). 
Bicknell,  E.  P.,  Char.  Bev.,  1897,  v.  6  :  449  (in  Indiana)  ;  N.C.C., 

1897. 
Bosanquet  and  Marshall,  Econ.  Jo.,  v.  2  :  186  (English  arguments 

for  and  against). 
Butler,  A.  W.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1906,  v.  11  :  763  (in  Indiana). 
Devine,  E.  T.,  Char.  Bev.,  1898,  v.  8:  129  (in  coal)  ;  v.  8 :  186 

(public  0.  d.  in  Boston)  ;  JV.C.C,  1898  (statistics  for  United 

States) . 
EUwood,  C.  A.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Sac,  1900,  v.  5  (comparison  of  views). 
Gunckel,  L.  B.,  Char.  Bev.,  1897,  v.  7 :  755  (in  Ohio). 
Johnson,  A.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1901,  v.  6  (in  Indiana). 
Indiana  Bulletin  of  Charities,  March,  1905;  March,  1906. 
Report  of  the  Special  Committee  on  Out-door  Alms  of  the  Town 

of  Hartford.     Hartford,  Conn.,  1891  (historical  pamphlet). 

:  see  Charity  Organization. 


Report  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  to  investigate  the  subject  of  the 
Unemployed.     Boston,  House  Document  no.  50,  1895. 

Report  of  the  Special  Committee  on  Standard  of  Living,  Eighth  New 
York  State  Conference  of  Charities.     Lee  Frankel,  Chairman. 

Report  of  the  Advisory  Committee  on  the  Penal  Aspects  of  Drunken- 
ness, to  the  Mayor  of  Boston.     City  Document  no.  158,  1899, 


488  AMEBICAN  CHARITIES. 

Report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health  on  the  Sanitary 
Conditions  of  Factories,  Workshops,  and  Other  Establishments. 
1906. 

Ribton-Turner,  C.  J.  History  of  Vagrants  and  Vagrancy.  London, 
Chapman  and  Hall,  1887. 

Richmond,  Mary  E.  Friendly  Visiting  among  the  Poor.  New  York, 
Macmillan,  1899. 

Richmond,  Mary  E.  The  Good  Neighbor.  Philadelphia,  Lippincott, 
1907. 

Riis,  Jacob  A.  Children  of  the  Poor.  New  York,  Scribner's,  1892. 
How  the  Other  Half  Lives.  New  York,  1892.  The  Battle  With 
the  Slum.     New  York,  Macmillan,  1902. 

Roberts,  Peter.  Anthracite  Coal  Communities.  New  York  and  Lon- 
don, Macmillan,  1904. 

Rowntree,  B.  Seebohm.  Poverty.  A  Study  of  Town  Life.  London, 
Macmillan,  2d  ed.,  1902. 

Rowntree  and  Sherwell.  The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Re- 
form.   London,  Hodder  and  Stoughton,  1899. 

S 

Scott,  Benjamin.     A  State  Iniquity.     London,  Kegan  Paul,  1890. 
Seligman,  Edwin   R.     Principles  of  Economics.     New  York,  Long- 
mans, 1905. 

Settlement  Laws,  see  Poor  Laws  of  the  United  States. 

Settlements  :  Bibliography  edited  and  periodically  re- 
vised by  Mrs.  F.  H.  Montgomery,  5548  Woodlawn  Ave., 
Chicago. 

Shuttleworth,  J.  E.  Mentally  Deficient  Children.  London,  Lewis, 
1895.     (Bibliography.) 

Smart,  William.  The  Distribution  of  Income.  London,  Macmillan, 
1899. 

Smith,  R.  Mayo-.  Emigration  and  Immigration.  New  York,  Scrib- 
ner's, 1898.  Statistics  and  Economics.  New  York,  Macmillan, 
1895.     Statistics  and  Sociology.    New  York,  Macmillan,  1899. 

The  Social  Evil.  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen.  New  York, 
Putnam's,  1902. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  489 

Social  Evil  : 

Moore,  E.G.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Sac,  v.  6, 1901,  no.  1  (psychology  of  vice). 

Charities,  1905,   v.   14 :  857    (the  Black  Plague)  ;    1905-1906,  v. 

15:710;  859  (Society  of  Sanitary  and  Moral  Prophylaxis); 

1906,  V.  17,  no.  11   (social  diseases);   see   indices  to  later 

volumes  under  social  hygiene.  Eugenics. 

Spahr,  Charles  B.     America's  Working  People.     New  York,  1900. 

Spargo,  John.    The  Bitter  Cry  of  the  Children.     New  York,  Mac- 

millan,  1906. 
Spratling,  Dr.  W.  P.     Epilepsy.     Philadelphia,  Saunders,  1908. 

Standard  of  Living  : 

Forman,  S.  E.,  .V.C.a,  1906. 

Frankel,  L.,  N.C.C.,  1906;  Charities,  etc.,  1906,  v.  17,  no.  7. 

Goodyear,  C,  Charities,  etc.,  1906,  v.  16  (budgets);  1906-1907,  v. 

17  :  315  (adequate). 
Tucker,  F.,  Charities,  etc.,  1906,  v.  17,  no.  7. 

State  Boards  of  Charities  :  List  of,  with  names  of  offi- 
cers in  current  volumes  of  N.C.C. 
See  Supervision  and  Control. 

Statutes  of  Every  State  in  the  United  States  concerning  Dependent, 
Neglected,  and  Delinquent  Children.  Philadelphia,  1900,  New 
Century  Club.     G.  F.  Lasher,  Printer,  147  No.  Tenth  St.,  Phila. 

Stead,  W.  T.     Josephine  Butler.     London,  Morgan  and  Scott,  1887. 

Steiner,  E.  A.  On  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant.  New  York,  Kevell, 
1906. 

Strahan,  S.  A.  K.     Marriage  and  Disease.    New  York,  Appleton,  1892. 

Strong,  Josiah,  Ed.  Social  Progress.  Yearbook  and  Encyclopedia 
of  economic,  industrial,  social,  and  religious  statistics.  New  York, 
Baker  and  Taylor.     (Bibliography.) 

Subsidies  : 

Boyle,  P.  C.     Fifty  Years  of  Charities  and  Correction  in  Penn- 
sylvania (pamphlet).     Oil  City,  Pennsylvania,  1905. 
Coler,  B.  S. ,  Controller's  Kept.,  New  York  City,  1890;  .V.  C.  C,  1901. 
Fetter,  F.  A.,  N.C.C,  1901  ;  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1901,  v.  7  :  359. 
MacFarland,  H.  B.,  N.C.C,  1906  (in  D.C.). 
Richmond,  M.  E.,  Charities,  1905,  v.  14  :  843 ;  v.  14:934. 


490  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

United  States  Senate  Doc.  185,  55th  Cong.  1st  Sess.  (1907);  Sen. 

Kept.  700,  65th  Cong.  2d  Sess.  (1898). 
New  York  Charities  Aid  Association,  pamphlet  no.  73  (1899); 

Kept.,  1906,  p.  156. 

Supervision  and  Control  : 
Blackmar,  F.  W.,  N.C.C.,  1903. 
Butler,  A.  W.,  N.C.C.,  1904  (Indiana). 
Clark,  A.  W.,  N.C.C.,  1904  (limits  to). 
Cleveland,  F.  A.,  N.C.C.,  1906  (duties  of  trustees). 
Hebberd,  R.  W.,  Annals,  1904,  v.  23  ;  N.C.C.,  1907. 
Kinne,  L.  G.,  N.C.C.,  1900  (Iowa). 
Lathrop,  J.  C,  A^.C.C,  1905. 
Rosing,  L.  A.,  N.C.C.,  1907  (Minnesota). 
Sanborn,  F.  B.,  Charities,  1904,  v.  13 :  116  (historical). 
Smith,  S.  G.,  Am.  Jo.  of  Soc,  1901,  v.  6  (Minnesota). 
Sparling,  S.  E.,  Annals,  1901,  v.  17,  whole  no.  62  (Wisconsin). 
Stewart,  W.  R.,  N.C.C.,  1907  (New  York). 
Tucker,  F.,  Charities,  1905-1906,  v.  15,  no.  9  (duties  of  Boards). 
Wines,  F.  H.,  N.C.C.,  1902. 

8ee  also  Administbation  ;  Charities. 


Temperance   Problem,    Bibliography   of    142    titles   in 

Koren,  Economic  Aspects,  etc. 
Tenements,  see  Housing. 
Tramps  and  Hoboes,  see  Vagrancy. 

Transactions  of  the  National  Association  for  the  Study  of  Epilepsy 
and  the  Care  and  Treatment  of  Epileptics.  4  vols.,  1901-1906. 
Dr.  W.  P.  Spratling,  Editor.  Secretary,  Dr.  J.  W.  Wherry,  Dans- 
ville,  New  York. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Society  of  Sanitary  and  Moral  Prophy- 
laxis. V.  1,  1906.  Secretary,  Dr.  E.  L.  Keyes,  Jr.,  109  E.  34th 
St.,  New  York.  The  society  publishes  educational  pamphlets: 
(1)  The  Young  Man's  Problem  ;  (2)  For  Teachers ;  (3)  The 
Relations  of  Social  Diseases  with  Marriage  and  their  Prophylaxis. 

Tuberculosis  : 

Bogen,  B.,  Charities,  etc.,  1907,  v.  18:417  (Cincinnati  method). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  491 

Devine,  E.  T.,  N.C.C.,  1905  (warfare  against). 

Farrand,  L.,  N.C.C.,  1905  (in  public  institutions). 

Fulmer,  H.,  N.C.G.,  1905  (open-air  treatment). 

Hutchinson,  Woods,  N.C.C.,  1905  (open-air  treatment). 

Hall,  B.  Charities^  etc.,  1907,  v.  18  :  230  (convalescents  and  the 
land). 

Lowman,  J.  H.,  Charities,  etc.,  1907,  v.  18,  no.  23. 

Charities,  1903,  v.  10:65  (Phipps  Institute);  v.  10:225  (duty  of 
State)  ;  V.  11 :  189  (seven  needs  in  checlving);  v.  11 :  570  (con- 
trol in  New  York,  statistics);  v.  15:303  (public  sanatorium. 
New  York);  v.  15:499  (duty  of  State);  v.  16:281  (papers 
on,  at  Jewish  Conference);  v.  17:330  (compulsory  registra- 
tion).    See  also  index,  current  vols. 

:  Bibliography  (short)  by  Devine,  Charities,  1905,  v. 

14:817. 

Tuberculosis  Directory  of  Institutions  and  Societies  deal- 
ing with  Tuberculosis.     New  York,  1904.     C.O.S. 

U 

Ufford,  W.  S.     Fresh-Air  Charity  in  the  United  States.     New  York, 

Bonnell,  Silver  &  Co.,  1897. 
Uhlhorn,  J.  G.  W.     Die  Christliche  Liebesthatigkeit. 

Vol.  1,  in  the  Ancient  Church  ;  translated  by  Sophia  Taylor  Clark, 
Edinburgh,  1883. 

Vol.  2,  im  Mittelalter.     Stuttgart,  Gundert,  1881. 

Vol.  3,  seit  der  Reformation.     Stuttgart,  Gundert,  1890. 

Unemployed,  see  Vagrancy. 


Vagrancy : 

Allen,  W.  H.,  N.C.C.,  1903  (social  parasite  or  product). 
Bailey,  E.  L.,  Forum,  October,  1898. 
Brackett,  J.  R.,  N.C.C.,  1896  (in  small  cities). 
Bradshaw,  J.  W.,  Char.  Rev.,  1896,  v.  5. 

Closson,  C.  C,  Quart.  Jo.  of  Econ.,  1894  (unemployed  in  Amer- 
ican cities). 
Devine,  E.  T.,  Annals,  1897,  v.  10  :  149  (shiftless  city  population). 
Forbes,  J.,  N.C.C.,  1903. 


492  AMERICAN   CHARITIES. 

Gladden,  W.,  N.C.C.,  1899  (what  to  do). 

Jackson,  J.  F.,  N.C.C.,  1903  (rural  tramp). 

Lewis,  0.  F..  N.C.C.,  1907  ;  Charities,  etc.,  1906-1907,  v.  18  :  342 

(National  Committee  on). 
Lowell,  Mrs.  J.  R.,  Char.  Rev.,  1896,  v.  5  :  341. 
McCook,  J.  J.,  Forum,  1893,  1895  (problem). 
Marsh,  B.  C,  N.C.C.,  1903  (methods  to  eradicate);    Charities, 

1903,  V.  10  :  221  ;  Annals,  1904,  v.  23  :  446. 
Millis,  H.  A.,    Char.  Rev.,   1897,  v.   7  :  687  ;    Am.  Jo.  of  Soc, 

March,  1898. 
Powell,  R.  F.,  Charities,  1904-1905,  v.  13  :  25  (vacant  lots  cultiva^ 

tion  a  remedy). 
Taylor,  G.,  Charities,  1906,  v.  16:  350  (English  unemployables) . 
Warner,  A.  G.,  Quart.  Jo.  of  Econ.,  v.  5  (experiments — unem- 
ployed). 
Whitney,  J.  S.,  Charities,  1904-1905,  v.  13  :  320. 
Charities,  1903,  v.  11 :  498  (methods  of  dealing  with)  ;  1906,  v.  16  : 

618  (as  a  pastime). 
Report  Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities,  1898-1899,  Appendix  A,  p. 

36  (non-resident  unemployed) . 
Reports  —  Special  Consular,  on  Vagrancy  and  Public  Charities  in 

Foreign  Countries.     Washington,  D.C.,  1892. 

Vagrancy  :  see  also  Employment. 

AND  Mendicancy: 

Charities,  1903,  v.  11 :  159  (confidential  bulletin  of  beggars)  ;  v. 
11 :  576  (mendicancy  police)  ;  v.  16  :  113  (mendicancy  police). 

Vice,  see  Social  Evil. 

VanVorst,  Mrs.  John,  and  Marie.  The  Woman  Who  Toils.  New 
York,  Doubleday,  Page,  1903. 

W 

Warner,  Amos  G.  Philanthropy  in  Educational  Institutions.  Section 
VII,  LC.C.C.P.,  1893.  Some  Experiments  on  Behalf  of  the  Un- 
employed. Quart.  Jo.  of  Econ.,  y.  5.  Public  Subsidies  to  Private 
Charities.  Section  III,  I.C.C.C.P.,  1893.  Evolution  of  Public 
Charities.     Pub.  Brooklyn  Ethical  Association. 

Warner,  Francis  G.  The  Study  of  Children.  New  York,  Macmillan, 
1899. 


BlBLIOGttAPHT.  493 

Webb,  Sidney,  and  Mrs.  Beatrice  [Potter].  Problems  of  Modern 
Industry.     London  and  New  York,  Longmans,  1902. 

Webb,  Sidney,  and  3frs.  Beatrice.  Industrial  Democracy.  London 
and  New  York,  Longmans,  1897,  new  ed.,  1902,  with  bibliog- 
raphy. 

Weber,  A.  F.  Growth  of  Cities  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.  New 
York,  Macmillan,  1899. 

Whelpley,  J.  D.  The  Problem  of  the  Immigrant.  New  York,  But- 
ton, 1906. 

Willard,  Josiah  Flynt.     Tramping  with  Tramps.     New  York,  Century 

Co.,  1901. 
Willoughby,  W.  F.     Workingmen's  Insurance.     New  York,  Crowell, 

1898.     (Professor  C.  R.  Henderson  brings  this  bibliography  down 

to  1907  in  Charities,  etc.,  v.  19  :  1191  ff.). 
Wilson,  G.  R.     Drunkenness.     London,  Sonnenschein,  1893. 
Wines,  F.  H.,  and  Koren,  J.     Legislative  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Prob- 
lem.    (Committee  of  Fifty.)     New  York  and  Boston,  Houghton. 
Woods,  F.  A.     Mental  and  Moral  Heredity  in  Royalty.     New  York, 

Holt,  1906. 
Woods,  Robert  A.     The   City  Wilderness.     New  York  and  Boston, 

Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1898.     The  Poor  in  Great  Cities.     New 

York,  1895.     Americans  in  Process.     1902. 
Wright,  Carroll  D.      Outline   of  Practical  Sociology.      New  York, 

Longmans,  6th  ed.,  1903. 
Wyckoff,  Walter  A.     The  Workers.     I  — The  East;  II  — The  West. 

New  York,  Scribner's,  1898. 


INDEX. 


Abnormal  children,  344-346. 

Accident  as  cause  of  poverty,  43,  46. 

Accidents,  118  ff . ;  railway,  119- 
120;  nature  of  industrial,  illus- 
trated by  examples,  121;  min- 
ing, 122. 

Adams,  Dr.,  cited,  334. 

Addams,   Jane,    quoted,    142. 

Adler,  Felix,  25  n.,  139. 

Advertising,  methods  of  philan- 
thropic, 382-385. 

Aged,  homes  for  the,  354-356; 
pensions  for,  356. 

Agriculturists.     See  Farmers. 

Alabama,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298,  300;  statistics  of  insane  in, 
319. 

Alden,  Percy,  cited,  117,  255,  260; 
quoted,  145-146;  classification 
by,  of  the  unemployed,  246; 
work  on  "The  Unemployed'!  by, 
262. 

Allen,  W.  H.,  cited,  306,  307,  345, 
393,  396. 

Almshouse,  the  word,   196  n. 

Almshouses,  ill-managed,  27 ;  statis- 
tics of  inmates  of,  196,  202,  203, 

204,  206,  207-209,  210;  evolu- 
tion of  buildings,  197-198 ;  classi- 
fication of  inmates  of,  198  ff.,  214— 
216;  insane  persons  in,  198-200, 
320 ;  feeble-minded  and  epileptics 
in,  200-201,  337,  347;  tramps, 
drunkards,    pro.stitutes,    etc.,    in, 

205,  220-221,  251;  children  in, 
201-205;  provisions  for  inmates 
of,  209,  211-214;  in  Missouri, 
209;    the   sick  in,  215-216;  land 


attached    to, 'and   farming  ques- I      344-346. 

495 


tion,  217-218;  officials  in  charge 
of,  218-219,  225;  admission  to 
and  discharge  from,  219-222; 
work  test  and  discipline  in,  222- 
224;  methods  of  improving,  225; 
as  homes  for  incurables,  356. 

Almy,  Frederick,  data  by,  on 
outdoor  relief,  236-238,  239- 
240;  on  unpaid  boards  and 
volunteer  %asitors,  371. 

America,  intemperance  in,  57,  58, 
74-75;    railway  accidents  in,  119. 

Americans,  causes  of  poverty 
among,  57,  58,  59. 

Ansell,  Charles,  Jr.,  cited,  128. 

Arizona,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298,  300;    insane  in,  319. 

Arkansas,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298,  300;  statistics  of  insane  in, 
319. 

Arhdge,  Dr.  J.  T.,  work  by,  122. 

Arrests  for  drunkenness,  349. 

Asexualization  of  criminals  and 
feeble-minded,  29-30. 

Ashley,  Lord,  connection  with 
factor}-  legislation  in  England, 
15-16. 

Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnae, 
398. 

Asjdums  for  insane,  327-335,  337, 
346. 

Atwater,  W.  O.,  cited,  185,  376.  _ 

Austria-Hungary,  railway  acci- 
dents in,  119. 

Aveling,  Dr.,  explanation  of  pov- 
erty by,  34. 

B 

Baby-farming,  272. 
Backward     children, 


classes     for. 


496 


INDEX. 


Bagehot,   Walter,   cited,   20. 

Bakers,  vital  statistics  of,  126,  127, 
129. 

Baltimore,  causes  of  poverty  in, 
50,  53 ;  orphanages  and  homes 
for  children  in,  414. 

Baluffi,   Cardinal,   cited,   377. 

Banfield,  Maud,  on  hospital  ad- 
ministration, 307,  308. 

Barnardo's  Homes  in  Canada,  286. 

Barnett,  Dr.,  cited,  334. 

Barr,  Dr.  M.  W.,  cited,  29,  339; 
quoted,  99,  100;  definition  of 
feeble-mindedness  by,  33G ;  on 
the  feeble-minded,  339,  340-341, 
342;    on  epileptics,  346. 

Barrows,   S.  J.,   cited,  331. 

Beard,  cited,  75. 

Beggars.  See  Tramps  and  Ya,- 
grants. 

Belgium,  railway  accidents  in,  119. 

Bell,  Alexander  Graham,  95. 

Bequests,  389  ff. 

"Bethlehem"  and  "Bedlam,"  325 n. 

Bielefeld  Colony  for  epileptics,  348. 

Birth-rate,  influence  of  charity  on, 
26. 

Blacksmiths,     vital     statistics     of, 

126,  127,  129. 

Blind,   institutions  for,   357. 

Blockley  (Philadelphia)  Almshouse 
exposure,  369. 

Boarding-out,  of  paupers,  197; 
of  foundlings,  268-269;  of  in- 
sane, 329-330. 

Boards  of  Charities,  of  Supervision, 
and  of  Control,  425-432,  436. 

Bohmert,   Victor,  54,   55,  67. 

Boies,  cited,  66. 

]3ookbinders,     vital     statistics     of, 

127,  130. 

Booth,  Charles,  studies  of  the  poor 
by,  40,  42,  64,  71,  75,  86;  cited, 
191,  221;  on  intemperance  as  a 
cause  of  poverty,  67 ;  quoted  on 
effect  of  drink,  76;  quoted  con- 
cerning Rooney  family,  106-107; 
influence  in  America  of  work  of, 
157;  on  housing  conditions  and 
their  effects  in  East  London, 
186-187. 


Booth,  General,  cited,  31,  246. 

Bosanquet,  Mrs.,  38,  147,  191. 

Boston,  pauperism  in,  160;  classes 
in  almshouses  at,  208;  relation 
between  public  and  private  out- 
door relief  in,  236,  238-239; 
treatment  of  tramps  in,  250. 

Bouvier,  Mrs.,  cited,  271. 

Boyle,  table  from,  403. 

Brace,  Charles  Loring,  66,  287,  377. 

Brandt,  Lilian,  62;  quoted,  150- 
151,   152. 

Brantwaite,  Dr.  R.  W.,  quoted,  78- 
79;    cited,   101,  349,   351. 

Brewers,   vital  statistics  of,   127. 

Bricklayers,  vital  statistics  of,  127, 
129.  " 

BrookUne,  outdoor  relief  experience 
in,  234-235. 

Brooklyn,  outdoor  relief  in,  230- 
232,  372;  institutions  for  cliil- 
dren  in,  280  n. 

Brougham,  Lord,  case  of,  103. 

Brown,  Mary  W.,  cited,  91. 

Buffalo,  statistics  of  causes  of 
poverty  in,  46,  50,  53 ;  history  of 
outdoor  aid  in,  239-241 ;  Church 
District  Plan  in,  379. 

Builders,  vital  statistics  of,  127. 

Burdett,  Sir  H.  C,  cited,  303,  308. 

Burr,  Dr.  C.  B.,  cited,  324,  329. 

Butchers,  vital  statistics  of,  126, 
127. 

Butler,  Amos  W.,  quoted,  339; 
cited,  342,  356,  431. 


C 

California,  insane  in  almshouses  in, 
200;  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 
300;  stati.stics  of  insane  in,  319; 
provisions  for  feeble-minded  in, 
338;  attempted  pension  system 
for  aged  in,  356 ;  politics  in  public 
charities  of,  369;  subsidies  to 
private  charities  in,  400;  sub- 
sidies for  dependent  children  in, 
407. 

Canada,  railway  accidents  in,  119; 
Barnardo's  Homes  in,  286. 

Carlyle,   Thomas,    12-13. 


INDEX. 


497 


Carpenters,  vital  statistics,  126,  127. 

Case-counting  metliod  of  studying 
causes  of  poverty,  36-39;  criti- 
cisms of  and  improvements  on, 
149  ff. 

Castration  of  criminals,   29. 

Cathcart,  Lord,  cited,  310. 

Catholic  orders,  nurses  of,  314-315. 

Catholics,  charities  of,  377-378;  re- 
ports rarely  published  by,  383  n. ; 
rivalries  of  Protestants  and,  409- 
410. 

Causes  of  poverty,  college  courses  in, 
19;  reasons  leading  to  search  for, 
25;  three  methods  of  studying, 
32;  philosophical  or  deductive 
method,  33-36;  inductive  or 
case-counting  method,  36-39 ; 
analysis  of,  under  case-counting 
method,  37;  third  method, 
statistical  study  of  classes  not 
yet  paujDerized  (pictorial method), 
39-41 ;  consideration  of  in- 
ve.stigations  conducted  on  case- 
counting  principle,  41-65;  sources 
of  error  in  statistics  of,  41-45; 
statistical  tables  of,  43,  44,  45, 
46,  47,  50,  51,  53,  54,  56,  58,  61, 
62,  63;  misconduct  vs.  misfor- 
tune as,  48-51 ;  incapacity  re- 
sulting from  degenerating  condi- 
tions the  chief,  64-65  (see  De- 
generation) ;  study  of,  by  third 
method,  taking  the  family  and 
not  the  individual,  149-192. 

Chalmers,  works  by,  on  poor-re- 
lief, 11-12. 

Character,  deterioration  of,  as  a 
cause   of   poverty,    38-39. 

Charities,  antiquity  of,  3-4;  influ- 
ence of  political  considerations 
on,  4,  292,  368-371,  426;  reh- 
gion  as  an  incentive  to  benevo- 
lence, 4-10,  377 ;  of  the  Church, 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  (y-9;  political 
economists'  theories  concerning, 
10-17;  college  courses  in,  19; 
question  of  ultimate  influence  of, 
20 ;  scope  of  the  term,  363-364. 
iSee  Private  charities  and  Public 
charities. 


Charities  Directories,  358. 

Charities  Endorsement  Committee, 
385. 

Charitj'  organization  movement, 
437  ff. 

Charity  organization  societies,  205, 
358,  442-456. 

Chase,  cited,  346. 

Chastity,  treatment  of  offenders 
against,  353. 

Chattel  mortgage  sharks,  91. 

Chicago,  tramps  in,  252. 

Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities,  454. 

Child  labor,  in  England,  before 
factory  legislation,  15-16;  in 
United  States,  135-138;  as  a 
cause  of  degeneration,  135-144. 

Children,  dependent,  in  German 
cities,  54;  proportion  of,  among 
dependents,  64,  155 ;  neglect  of, 
due  to  intemperance,  72;  causes 
of  defective,  98-101,  339,  344- 
345,  347;  effect  on,  of  life  below 
the  poverty  line,  189;  in  alms- 
houses, 201-205 ;  illegitimate, 
born  in  almshouses,  209,  221 ; 
responsibility  of  treatment  of 
dependent,  263;  numbers  of 
dependent,  in  United  States, 
263-265;  death-rate  in  found- 
ling hospitals,  266-267;  board- 
ing-out of  infants,  268-269; 
institutional  care  of  infants,  270 ; 
reception  of  foundhngs,  in 
France,  270-271;  in  New  York 
Foundling  Hospital,  271-272; 
methods  of  dealing  with  destitute 
mothers  with,  272-273 ;  rules  for 
receiving,  into  institutions,  273- 
276;  classification  of  dependent, 
—  defectives,  cripples,  criminals, 
etc.,  277-279;  institution  plan  of 
providing  for  dependent,  279- 
286;  piacing-out  method,  286- 
292;  emigration  method,  286- 
287 ;  county  homes  for,  292 ;  care 
for,  in  private  institutions,  292- 
293;  conclusions  arrived  at, 
relative  to  dependent,  293-296; 
of  feeble-minded  mothers,  342, 
343 ;    special  classes  in  school  for 


498 


INDEX. 


backward    and    abnormal,    344- 
346;    hospitals  for,   356;    public 
subsidies  to  institutions  for,  404— 
407. 
Children's  Aid  Societies,  287,  288, 

290. 
China,  charities  in  ancient,  3-4. 
Chinese,     food     standards     of,     in 

California,  164. 

Church ,    mediaeval,    and    charities, 

6-9;    influence   of,    on    charities, 

377  ff. ;    proposed  discontinuance 

of    charity    work    by    churches, 

378-379. 

Church  District  Plan,  Buffalo,  379. 

Cigar-makers,     vital    statistics    of, 

135;    child  labor  among,    136. 
Cincinnati,  causes  of  poverty  in,  51. 
Circumstances,  adverse,  as  cause  of 

poverty,  38-39. 
Civil     service     .system     in     public 

charity  work,  370. 
Clark,  M.  V.,  quoted,  197-198. 
Closson,  Carlos  C,  cited,  244. 
Codman,  Mrs.  quoted,  235;    cited, 

371. 
Coldwater  State  School,   Michigan, 

288. 
College  graduates  as  charity  work- 
ers, 462. 
Colleges,  courses  in  causes  of  pov- 
erty in,  19. 
Colony    plan,    for    insane    asvlums, 
328,  332;   for  feeble-minded,  343, 
344 ;   for  epileptics,  346,  348. 
Colorado,  hospital  .statistics  of,  298, 
300;    statistics  of  insane  in,  319; 
provisions   for  feeble-minded   in, 
338. 
Colored  race,  intemperance  among, 
58,  59,  67,  69,  72 ;  sickness  among, 
59. 
Commitments  for  drunkenness,  350- 

351. 
Committee     of     Fifteen,     the,     84; 

recommendations  of,  88-89. 
Committee  of  Fift}',  the,  67  n. 
Connecticut,     limitations    on    mar- 
riage  in,    29;     hospital   statistics 
of,  298,  300;    statistics  of  insane 
in,    318;     pro\'isions    for    feeble- 


minded in,  338;    subsidies  to  pri- 
vate charities  in,  400. 
Consumption,        mortality       from, 

among     British     laborers,     133- 

134;    victims  of,   in  almshouses, 

213-214. 
Cook  County  Insane  Asylum,  375. 
Cooley,  Charles  H.,  quoted,  113. 
Coolidge,    M.    R.,    tables    compiled 

by,     44;      study     of     almshouse 

women  by,  211-212,  220. 
Cooper,  Dr.  A.  V.,  cited,     347. 
Corporate  hospitals,  306-307. 
Cost  of  living,  figures  of,  in  United 

States,  161-185. 
Cottage  plan,  of  almshouse,  198,  209; 

in  in.stitutions  for  children,  284; 

for  insane  asylums,  328. 
Country  Settlement,  Concord,  N.H., 

316. 
County  care  of  insane,  327-329. 
County    Children's    Home    system, 

292. 
County  Visitors,  Board  of,  432-433. 
Craig  Colony,  New  York,  348. 
Creches,  455. 
Crerar  fund,  315. 
Criminal  insane,  331. 
Criminals,    sterilization    of,    29-30; 

segregation  and  isolation  of,  30- 
31. 
Crooker,  J.  H.,  cited,  4. 
Cunningham,  VV.,  quoted,  13 ;  cited, 
365. 

D 

D'Alcmbert,    case    of,    used    as    an 

example,   102-103. 
"  Dangerous  Trades,"  Oliver's,  122- 

123;  tables  taken  from,  129,  130; 

quoted,  190. 
Daniel,   Dr.,  quoted,   140-141. 
Dartmouth  College  decision,  391. 
Dawes,  Anna  L.,  cited,  463  n. 
Deaconesses  as  nurses,  314. 
Deaf,  intermarriage  of,  28,  96,  97; 

institutions  for,  357. 
Defectives,     marriage    of,     28;      in 

almshouses,    197,    199,    201,   207, 

209,  213,  214. 
Defoe,  cited,  9. 


INDEX. 


499 


De  Forest  and  Veiller,  cited,  84. 

Degeneration,  the  chief  cause  of 
poverty,  64—65;  study  of  symp- 
tomatic causes  of,  66  ff. ;  in- 
temperance a  source  of,  78-81 ; 
immorality  (sexual  licentious- 
ness) a  leading  source  of,  81-90; 
sources  of,  found  in  opium  and 
other  habits,  90;  in  mental  in- 
capacity, 90-91 ;  in  gambling 
and  speculation,  91 ;  in  shift- 
lessness  and  inefficiency,  91-92; 
influence  of  heredity  in  produc- 
tion of,  93-114;  characteristic 
social  causes  of,  115  ff. ;  accidents 
leading  to,  118-122;  caused  by 
conditions  surrounding  certain 
kinds  of  work,  122-135;  child 
labor  as  a  cause  of,  135-144; 
labor  of  women,  irregular  em- 
l^loyment,  industrial  displace- 
ment, 144-147. 

De  Gerando,  cited,  66. 

Delaware,  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 
300;   statistics  of  insane  in,  318. 

Denmark,  railway  fatalities  in,  118, 
119. 

Dennis,  cited,  140. 

Department  stores,  nurses  em- 
ploj^ed  by,  316. 

Desertion  as  cause  of  poverty,  43. 

Devine,  E.  T.,  quoted,  14,  77,  230, 
261;  cited,  47,  66,  92,  145,  186, 
196,  257,  280,  286,  287,  379, 
442,  451,  452. 

Dipsomaniacs,  hospitals  for,  352. 

Disease  a  bar  to  marriage,  28-29. 

Diseases  caused  by  certain  occu- 
pations, 122-135. 

Dispensaries,    charitable,    309-311. 

District  nursing,  315. 

District  of  Columbia,  hospital  statis- 
tics of,  298-301;  statistics  of 
insane  in,  318;  sub-sidies  to  pri- 
vate charities  in,  400-402. 

Dix,  Dorothea  Lynde,  325,  326. 

Drage,  Geoffrey,  classification  of 
the  unemployed  by,  245. 

Drink  as  cause  of  poverty,  43,  44, 
45.     See  Intemperance. 

Drunkards,  in  almshouses,  205 ;    ex- 


perience of  Massachusetts  State 

Hospital  with,  352. 
Drunkenness,    treatment    of,    349— 

353;     arrests    aqd    commitments 

for,  349-351.     »See  Intemperance. 
Dugdale,  R.  L.,  26;    study  of  Juke 

family   by,    64,    108-110. 
Dusty    occupations,     and    disease, 

123-124;    comparative  mortality 

of  workers  in,  129. 


East  Side  Relief  Committee,  New 
York,  257;  conclusions  formed 
by,  261. 

Education,  defective,  inefficiency 
resulting  from,  92. 

Efficiency,  rising  standard  of,  and 
effect  on  wage-earners,   117. 

Elberfeld  system  of  public  relief, 
241,  243,  371. 

Ellis,  Havelock,  364. 

EUwood,  Charles  A.,  data  concern- 
ing almshouses  by,  197,  199,  200, 
209-211,  219;  quoted,  199-200; 
suggestions  toward  improve- 
ment by,  225;    cited,  326. 

Ely,  Richard  T.,  cited,  20,  29. 

Emigration  method  of  treating 
dependent  children,  286-287. 

Emminghaus,  A.,  7,  8. 

Employees,  of  public  institutions, 
374—375;  of  charitable  societies, 
462-464. 

Employment  agencies,  454—455. 

Endorsement  Committee  of  San 
Francisco,  384-385,  454. 

Endorsement  Committees,  Charity, 
384-385. 

Endowments,  389  fT. ;  disadvan- 
tages arising  from,  389-391,  396; 
examples  of  unsuitable,  393-395; 
principles  which  should  guide  in 
making,  396-397;  limitations  on 
powers  of  testators,  397-398. 

Engel,  Dr.,  163. 

England,  .state  relief  work  in,  8; 
poor-law  reform  in,  12-15;  fac- 
tory legislation  in,  15-17;  en- 
dowed charities  in,  389-391. 


500 


INDEX. 


En\'ironment,  as  a  cause  of  poverty, 
38-39;  liability  to  confusion  be- 
tween heredity   and,    111-112. 

Epilepsj',  causes  of,  97-101,  347; 
curability  of,  347;  National 
Association  for  study  of,  348. 

Epileptics,  marriage  of,  29 ;  in 
almshouses,  200-201,  209,  213, 
214-215;  in  insane  asjdums,  331  ; 
provision  for  in  institutions,  346- 
348;     numbers  of,   346-347. 

Experimentation,  philanthropic, 
and  private  charities,  387. 

Extravagance,  as  cause  of  poverty, 
43;  resulting  from  mental  in- 
capacity, 90. 


Factory  children,  15,  135-144. 

Factory  inspectors,  124. 

Factory  legislation,  English,  15- 
17. 

Families,  large,  not  a  cause  of  de- 
pendence, 62;  of  paupers,  106- 
114;  standard  and  cost  of  living 
of,  161-185. 

Farm  colonies  for  feeble-minded, 
344. 

Farmers,  vital  statistics  of,  126- 
136;  child  labor  among,  136,  137; 
almshouse   officials   as,    217-218. 

Farmhouses  as  almshouses,  197, 
209. 

Farr,  Dr.  William,  statistics  by,  125, 
126. 

Fawcett,  Professor,  16. 

Fay,  Edward  Allen,  95,  96,  97. 

Feeble-minded,  increase  in  propor- 
tion of,  due  to  influence  of  char- 
ity, 25;  asexualization  of,  30; 
in  almshouses,  200-201,  209,  213, 
214—215;  in  insane  asylums,  331 ; 
what  is  included  in  term,  336; 
disproportionate  increase  of,  336- 
337;  institutional  provision  for, 
337-339;  training  of,  339-340, 
342,  344-346 ;  educational  classi- 
fication of,  340-341 ;  segregation 
of  adult,  342-343 ;  cu.stodial  care 
of,  343-344. 


Feeble-mindedness,    causes  of,   99, 

100,  339. 
Fernald,  Dr.,  quoted,  343  n. 
Fetter,  Frank  A.,  table  from,  400; 

quoted,  412;  cited,  415,  416,  418. 
Fish,  cited,  330. 

Fishermen,   vital  statistics  of,   127. 
Fitch,  Dr.  J.  G.,  cited,  393;  quoted, 

397-398. 
Flood,  cited,  347. 
Florida,  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 

300;    statistics  of  insane  in,  318. 
Folks,     Homer,     on     influence     of 

heredity,    101-102;     on   children 

in  almshouses,   201 ;    cited,   279, 

288,  290,  291,  293,  401,  462;    on 

difficulties    of   administration   of 

public   charities,   374—375. 
Foundling    Hospital,     New    York, 

271. 
Foundling     hospitals,     26,     27-28, 

263  ff. ;    death-rate  in,   266-267. 
Foundlings,   boarding-out  of,   268- 

269;    institutional  care  of,  270. 
Foxboro  hospital  for  dipsomaniacs, 

352. 
France,    state    relief    work    in,    8 

state    care    of    children    in,    10 

foundling   hospitals  in,   27,   270 

railway  accidents  in,  119. 
Frankel,   Dr.   Lee  K.,  classification 

of  causes  of  dependence  b}^  151; 

on  Hebrew  charities,  380. 
Fraudulent  charities,   detection  of, 

454. 
Friendly  visiting,  6,  371-372,  452- 

453. 

G 

Galton,  Francis,  quoted,  102;  study 
of  English  judges  by,  103-104. 

Gambling,  91. 

Gardeners,   vital  statistics  of,    127. 

George,  Henry,  on  causes  of  pov- 
erty, 33-34. 

Georgia,  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 
300;    statistics  of  insane  in,  318. 

Germans,  place  of  intemperance  in 
causes  of  poverty  among,  58,  59; 
income  and  expenditures  of, 
compared  with  Irisli,  170,  171, 


INDEX. 


501 


Germany,  relief  work  in,  8;  statis- 
tics of  causes  of  poverty  in,  51 ; 
statistics  of  dei^endent  children 
in,  54;  railway  accidents  in, 
119;  sj'stem  of  unpaid  visitors 
in,  371. 

Giddings,  Franklin  H.,  cited,  167. 

Girard  College,  365,  396  n. 

Gladden,  Washington,  245. 

Glass-blowing,  disease  from,  123. 

Glass-making  and  child  labor,  136, 
143. 

Goodyear,  Caroline,  cited,  184,  185. 

Great  Britain,  railway  accidents  in, 
119. 

Grimshaw,  Dr.,  statistics  by,  130. 

Grocers,  vital  statistics  of,  126, 
127. 

Groszmann,  Dr.  M.  P.  E.,  on  atypi- 
cal children,  345. 

Guardianship  of  destitute  children, 
274-276. 

Gurteen,  Rev.  S.  H.,  443. 


H 


Hairdressers,  mortality  figures  of, 
130. 

Hart,  H.  H.,  cited,  287,  387. 

Hartford,  almshouse  conditions  at, 
209,  221. 

Hat-making,  disease  from,  123. 

Hatters,  vital  statistics  of,  127, 
130. 

Hayes,  cited,  118  n. 

Hebberd,  R.  W.,  cited,  198,  431. 

Hebrew  orphanages.  New  York 
City,  280  n. 

Hebrews,  charity  work  of,  6,  378, 
380,  384. 

Hedger,  Dr.,  cited,  135. 

Heg,  J.,  cited,  329. 

Henderson,  Charles  R.,  cited,  6,  41, 
303,   323,   324,  357,   379. 

Henry  Street  Settlement,  New 
York,  315. 

Heredity,  improvement  of  human 
race  by,  20  ff . ;  as  cause  of  pov- 
erty, 43 ;  influence  of,  in  produc- 
tion of  degeneration,  93-114; 
influence  of,  as  shown  by  English 


judges,  104 ;  as  shown  by  royalty, 
104-105;  force  of,  illustrated  by 
Rooney,  Juke,  and  Ishmael 
families,  106-111;  what  is  meant 
by  the  word,  111-112. 

Hennann,  cited,  117. 

Hobhouse,  quoted,  393. 

Hodder,  cited,  325  n. 

Hoffmann,  F.  L.,  studies  by,  115- 
116;  figures  from,  134,  160;  on 
child  labor,   139. 

Homes,  children's,  264-265,  279- 
284;  for  aged  dependents,  354- 
356;  for  incurables,  356;  for 
the  deaf  and  the  blind,  357. 

Honor  offices,  system  of,  370-371, 
426,  460. 

Ho.spitals,  death-rate  in  improperly 
conducted,  26;  recent  develop- 
ment of,  297;  statistics  of,  in 
United  States,  298-301;  im- 
portance of  reports  from,  and 
facts  to  be  included,  302-303; 
per  capita  cost  of  service  in,  303 ; 
as  scliools  for  medical  students, 
303-304;  religious  motive  in 
establishing,  304 ;  qualifications 
for  admission  to,  306;  municipal 
and  corporate,  306-307 ;  defects 
in  management  of,  307 ;  sj'stems 
of  accounting  in,  307-308 ;  con- 
trol and  superintendence  of,  308; 
dispensaries,  309-311;  nurses 
connected  with,  312-316;  statis- 
tics of  insane  in,  317-319. 

Housing  conditions,  in  New  York 
Citv,  186;  in  East  London,  186- 
187. 

Howe,  Dr.  Samuel  G.,  28,  98. 

Hubbard,  cited,  451. 

Hubert-Valleroux,   7. 

Hull,  Dr.,  cited,  135. 

Hunter,  Robert,  quoted,  39;  cited, 
120,  146;  figures  from,  on  pov- 
erty in  United  States,  159-160, 
184. 

Hurd,  H.  M.,  cited,  307,  311. 

Husband,  death  of,  as  cause  of 
poverty,  43. 

Hutcheson  and  Harrison,  cited, 
140. 


502 


INDEX. 


Idaho,  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 
300;    insane  in,   319. 

Idiocy,  statistics  of,  in  Massachu- 
setts, 98;  propagation  of,  by 
descent,  100-101;  definition  of, 
336.     See    Feeble-mindedness. 

Idiots,  asexualization  of,  30. 

Idleness  in  institutions,  223-224. 

Illegitimate  children,  209,  221. 
See  Foundlings. 

Illinois,  insane  in  almshouses  in, 
199;  hospital  statistics  of,  298- 
300;  statistics  of  insane  in,  319; 
provisions  for  feeble-minded  in, 
338;  politics  in  public  charities 
of,  369;  experience  with  prohibi- 
tion of  public  grants  to  sectarian 
institutions,  413. 

Illinois  Training  School  for  Nurses, 
315. 

Imbeciles,  marriage  of,  27,  28-29; 
asexualization  of,  30. 

Imbecility,   97,   98,  99,    100. 

Immigration,  bearing  of,  on  amount 
of  insanity  in  United  States,  322 ; 
and  pauperism,  374. 

Immorality,  as  cause  of  poverty, 
43,  44,  50;  what  is  understood 
by,  81 ;  as  a  source  of  degenera- 
tion,  81-90. 

Impostors,  exposure  of,  453-454. 

Imprisonment  of  breadwinner  as 
cause  of  poverty,   46,   50. 

Incapacity  as  cause  of  poverty, 
43. 

Incorrigible  children,  278. 

Incurables,  prolongation  of  life  of, 
23-24;    homes  for,  356. 

Indiana,  limitations  on  marriage  in, 
29;  sterilization  of  criminals  in, 
29-30;  outdoor  relief  in,  232- 
234;  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 
300;  statistics  of  insane  in,  319; 
provisions  for  feeble-minded  in, 
338;  feeble-mindedness  in,  339, 
342;  development  of  public 
charities  of,  354  ff. 

Indiana  Hospital  for  Insane  scandal, 
369. 


Indianapolis,  relief  of  unemployed 
in,  2.58. 

Indian  Territory,  hospital  statistics 
of,  298,  300,  301 ;    insane  in,  319. 

Inebriates,  statistics  relating  to,  79 ; 
hospitals  for,  251.  See  Drunk- 
ards. 

Insane,  increase  in  proportion  of, 
due  to  influence  of  charity,  25; 
in  almshouses,  198-200,  207,  209 ; 
statistics  of,  in  United  States, 
317-320;  increase  in  proportion 
of,  320 ;  reasons  for  increase, 
320-322;  effect  of  immigration 
on  numbers  of,  322 ;  commitment 
of  the  sane  as,  322-323 ;  methods 
of  commitment,  323;  detention 
of,  324;  matter  of  proper  escort 
of,  to  asylums,  324-325;  history 
of  treatment  of,  325  ff. ;  effects 
of  restraint  and  seclusion  on, 
326-327 ;  first  State  asylums 
for,  327-328;  county  asylum 
system  of  caring  for,  327-329; 
State  care  for,  328,  329;  board- 
ing-out of,  in  families,  329-330; 
care  for,  in  private  institutions, 
330;  classification  of,  by  sex, 
color,  curable  and  incurable, 
330-331 ;  criminal  and  non- 
criminal, 331 ;  further  classifica- 
tion, —  feeble-minded,  epileptics, 
filthy,  and  unmanageable,  etc., 
331-332;  discussion  of  systems 
for  dealing  with,  332-335;  pro- 
visions for  the  incipient,  333- 
334;    after-care  of,  334-335. 

Insane  asylums,  327-335;  feeble- 
minded in,  337;  epileptics  in, 
346. 

Insanity,  and  marriage,  28;  as 
cause  of  poverty,  44,  46,  50,  58. 

Inspectors,  of  factories,  124;  of 
almshouses,  213. 

Instalment  plan  houses,  91. 

Institution  of  Mercy,  New  York 
City,   280  n. 

Institutional  system,  in  almshouses, 
217;  in  care  of  infants,  270;  of 
providing  for  dependent  chil- 
dren, 279-286. 


INDEX. 


603 


Intemperance,  as  cause  of  poverty, 
43,  44,-  45,  46,  50,  53,  58,  66  ff. ; 
statistics  of,  among  different 
nations,  57,  58,  59,  69 ;  results  of 
inquiries  concerning,  66-67;  a 
source  as  well  as  a  syinptom  of 
degeneration,  78-81 ;  effects  of, 
79;    dangerous  trades  and,   123. 

Iowa,  hospital  statistics  of,  298- 
300;  insane  in,  319;  provisions 
for  feeble-minded  in,  338;  hos- 
pital for  inebriates  in,  352. 

Ireland,  Dr.  W.  W.,  cited,  100-101, 
339;  definition  of  idiocy  by, 
336. 

Irish,  place  of  intemperance  in 
causes  of  poverty  among,  57,  58, 
69;  shiftlessness  and  inefficiency 
as  causes  of  poverty,  59 ;  income 
and  expenditures  of,  compared 
with  Germans,  170,  171. 

Ishmael  family,  81,  103,  110-111. 

Isolation  of  defectives  and  de- 
pendents, 30-31,  326,  342. 

Italy,  state  relief  work  in,  8;  men- 
dicancy in,  set  down  to  excessive 
charity,  9-10. 


Jaffa,  Professor,  on  food  standards 
of  Chinese,  164. 

Jails,  character  of  county,  256. 

James,  William,  quotation  from,  38. 

Jeans,   essay  b}',  quoted,   16. 

Jewish  charities,  6,  378,  380. 

Jewish  Charities,  Federations  of, 
384. 

Job,  quotation  from,  1  n. 

Johns  Hopkins  Hospital,  365. 

Johns  Hopkins  Nurses  Alumnae 
Association,  315. 

Johnson,  Alexander,  30,  365  n. 

Johnson,  Alvin  S.,  study  of  vice  by, 
84-85. 

Jordan,  David  Starr,  on  heredity, 
93-95. 

Joyce,  cited,  234. 

Judges,  effect  of  heredity  illus- 
trated by,  104. 

Juke  family,  64,  81,  83,  103;  his- 
tory and  statistics  of,  108-110. 


Jury  trial  of  persons  charged  with 
insanity,  323. 

K 

Kankakee,  111.,  insane  asylum  at, 
328. 

Kansas,  hospital  statistics  of,  298- 
300;  insane  in,  319;  provisions 
for  feeble-miided  in,  338. 

Kelley,  Florence,  cited,  142. 

Kellogg,  Charles  D.,  cited,  48,  441, 
442,  465. 

Kenny,  Courtney,  cited,    391,    394. 

Kentucky',  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;  insane  in,  319;  feeble- 
minded in,  338. 

Kerlin,  Dr.,  quoted,  29. 

Kidd,  Benjamin,  cited,  25  n. 

Knight,  Dr.,  quoted,  343. 

Kollen,  Dr.,  314  n. 

Koren,  John,  studies  and  investi- 
gations b3%  59,  67,  68,  69,  70,  76; 
quoted  on  paupers  in  almshouses, 
204-205;  on  hospitals,  301;  on 
rate  of  increase  for  insane,  320. 

Korosi,  Josef,  statistics  bj^   132. 

Kuborn,  Dr.,  on  English  miners, 
190. 


Laborers,    vital    statistics    of,    126, 

127;    liability  of,  to  tuberculosis, 

133-134;     statistics    of    children 

as,  136. 
Labor  reports,   results  of  study  of 

causes  of  poverty  in,  40. 
Lack  of  work  as  cause  of  povert}^, 

43,  45,  46,  50. 
Lathrop,  Julia  C,   cited,  329,  375, 

391. 
Lauderburn,  Miss,  quoted,  189. 
Lawj'ers,  vital  statistics  of,  127. 
Laziness  as  cause  of  poverty,  43. 
Leckv,  W.  E.  H.,  quoted,  7-8,  9,  458. 
Letchworth,  W.  P.,  cited,  347. 
Lewis,  Orlando  F.,  on  the  vagrancy 

problem,  251. 
Life,  sanctitv  of,  23-24. 
Lincoln,   Alice   N.,    cited,  216,  222. 
Lindsav,  S.  M.,  tables  compiled  by, 

45,  53,  54,  66;    cited,  142. 


504 


INDEX. 


Liquor  dealers,    vital  statistics  of, 

126,  127. 
Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  homes  for 

the  aged  maintained  by,  355,  401. 
London,  Charles  Booth's  work  in, 

40,  42,   51,    157-158;    emigration 

of  dependent   children   from,    to 

colonies,  286. 
Louisiana,    hospital    statistics    of, 

298-300;    insane  in,   319. 
Lovejoy,  Owen  R.,  quoted,  141,  143. 
Low,    Seth,    on    outdoor    relief    in 

Brooklyn,  231. 
Lowell,  Mrs.  Josephine  Shaw,  353  n. ; 

quoted,  221. 
Lunatics.     See  Insane. 


M 


Macaulay,  speech  by,  on  ten-hour 
bill,  16. 

Machinery,  effect  of,  on  standard  of 
efficiency,  117-118. 

McCook,  Professor,  cited,  247. 

McCulloch,  Oscar  C,  study  of 
Ishmael  family  by,  26,   110-111. 

MacFarland,  H.  B.,  cited,  402. 

Mackay,  Thomas  W.,  38. 

McKelway,  cited,  140. 

McLean,  Francis  H.,  report  by, 
120-121. 

Mackenzie,    Sir    Morell,  cited,  310. 

Maine,  hospital  statistics  of,  298- 
300;  insane  in,  318. 

Malthus,  "Principle  of  Population" 
by,  11,  33. 

Manchester  Unity  I.O.O.F.,  figures 
from,  132-133. 

Marcella  Street  Home,  Boston,  221. 

Marriage,  insanity  and,  28;  of  de- 
fectives, 28,  96,  97. 

Marshall,  Alfred,  quoted,  13-14, 
190. 

Martineau,  Miss,  15,  19. 

Marx,  Karl,  on  causes  of  poverty, 
33,  34. 

Mar3-land,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;  insane  in,  318;  provi- 
sions for  feeble-minded  in,  338; 
subsidies  to  private  charities  in, 
400. 


Mason,  Sir  Josiah,  397-398. 

Masons,  vital  statistics  of,  127,  129. 
Massachusetts,  statistics  of  idiocy 
in,  98;  provisions  as  to  insane 
in,  199,  318,  329-330;  alms- 
house conditions  in,  208,  212- 
214,  215;  outdoor  rehef  in,  228; 
tramps  in,  248-249,  250,  251-252; 
boarding-out  method  applied  to 
foundhngs  in,  269,  271-272; 
system  of  supervision  of  infant- 
boarding  in,  272  n. ;  placing-out 
of  dependent  children  in,  288- 
291 ;  distribution  of  State 
minor  wards  in,  290;  hospi- 
tal statistics  of,  298-301;  hos- 
pital work  in,  301 ;  statistics  of 
insane  in,  318;  provisions  fcvr 
feeble-minded  in,  338,  344 ;  treat- 
ment of  drunkards  in,  352. 

Massachusetts  Hospital  for  Epi- 
leptics, 347. 

Maternity  hospitals,  26,  356. 

Matthews,  Nathan,  Jr.,  435. 

Medical  charities,  356. 

Medical  men,  vital  statistics  of,  127. 

Mendicancv  committee.  New  York 
City,  252-253. 

Mental  deficiency  as  cause  of  pov- 
erty, 43,  44. 

Michigan,  limitations  on  marriage 
in,  28;  experience  of,  with  de- 
pendent children,  276-277;  plac- 
ing-out of  dependent  children  in, 
288-291 ;  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;  statistics  of  insane  in, 
319 ;  provisions  for  feeble-minded 
in,  338;  politics  in  charities  of, 
369. 

Migration  of  dependents,  373. 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  33. 

Miners,  vital  statistics  of,  126,  127; 
child  labor  among,  136,  141 ;  mal- 
adies of  English,  190. 

Mining  accidents,  122. 

Minnesota,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298,  300;  insane  in,  319;  provi- 
sions for  feeble-minded  in,  338; 
hospital  for  inebriates  in,  352. 

Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Virgin, 
New  York  City,  280  n. 


INDEX. 


505 


Mississippi,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298,  300;    insane  in,  319. 

Missouri,  insane  in  almshouses  in, 
199;  almshouse  conditions  in, 
209-211;  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;  insane  in,  319;  feeble- 
minded in,  338. 

Mitchell,  John,  cited,  184. 

Montana,  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 
300;  insane  in,  319. 

Morals  pohce,  87,  89. 

More,  Louise  Boland,  40;  studies 
by,  on  standards  and  cost  of 
living,  161,  166  ff.;  quoted,  187; 
cited,   262. 

Morrow,  Dr.  Prince  A.,  on  prostitu- 
tion problem,   87,  89-90. 

Mosher,  Dr.  J.  M.,  quoted,     333. 

Mothers,  condition  of,  as  affecting 
mental  condition  of  children,  99, 
100;  destitute  unmarried,  272- 
273. 

Municipal  hospitals,  306. 

Municipal  lodging-houses,  254-255. 

Municipal  nurses,  315-316. 

Musicians,  mortality  figures  of,  130. 


N 


National  Vagrancy  Committee,  253. 

Nebraska,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;  insane  in,  319;  provi- 
sions for  feeble-minded  in,  338. 

Neglect  by  relatives  as  cause  of 
poverty,   44. 

Negroes,  place  of  intemperance  in 
causes  of  poverty  among,  58,  59, 
67,  69,  72 ;  sickness  as  a  cause  of 
poverty  among,  59. 

Nevada,  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 
300;    insane  in,  319. 

New  Hampshire,  hospital  statistics 
of,  298-300;  insane  in,  318; 
provisions  for  feeble-minded  in, 
338. 

New  Haven,  causes  of  poverty  in, 
53. 

New  Jersey,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;  insane  in,  318;  provi- 
sions for  feeble-minded  in,  337, 
338. 


New  Jersey  Training  School  for 
Feeble-minded  Boys  and  Girls, 
345. 

New  Mexico,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298,  300;    insane  in,  319. 

New  South  Wales,  railway  acci- 
dents in,  119. 

New  York  City,  causes  of  poverty 
in,  51,  53;  foundlings  in,  268; 
dispensary  system  in,  309;  sub- 
sidies to  private  charities  in, 
404-405. 

New  York  City  Farm  Colony,  198. 

New  York  Orphan  Asylum,  re- 
moval to  the  country,   284-285. 

New  York  State,  statistics  of 
paupers  in  almshouses  in,  56; 
experience  of,  with  dependent 
children,  276-277 ;  institutions 
for  children  in,  280;  hospital 
statistics  of,  298-301 ;  statistics 
of  insane  in,  318,  320;  psycho- 
pathic hospitals  for  insane  in, 
334 ;  provisions  for  feeble-minded 
in,  337,  338 ;  poUtics  in  charitable 
institutions  of,  369-370;  sub- 
sidies to  private  charities  in,  400. 

North  Carolina,  hospital  statistics 
of,  298,  300;  insane  in,  318; 
subsidies  to  private  charities  in, 
400. 

North  Dakota,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-301;  insane  in,  319;  pro- 
visions for  feeble-minded  in,  338. 

Norway,  railway  accidents  in,  119. 

Nurses,  training  schools  for,  312, 
313-314;  members  of  religious 
orders  as,  314. 

Nurses'    settlements,   315. 

Nursing,  312  ff. ;  district,  315; 
rural,  316. 

Nutt,  Dr.  J.  J.,  cited,  305. 

O 

Occupations,  diseases  of,  122-135. 

O'Connell,  cited,  118  n. 

Odell,  Governor,  369-370. 

Officials,  of  almshouses,  218-219, 
225;  of  hospitals,  308;  system 
of  unpaid   (honor  officers),  370- 


506 


INDEX.- 


371,  426,  460;  of  Boards  of 
Supervision,  426. 

Ogle,  Dr.,  statistics  by,  126,  127. 

Ohio,  county  homes  for  children 
in,  292,  293;  hospital  statistics 
of,  298-301;  insane  in,  319; 
provisions  for  defectives  in,  338, 
348;  Board  of  County  Visitors 
in,  432. 

Oklahoma,  hospital  stati-stics  of, 
298-301 ;  insane  in,  319. 

Old  age,  as  cause  of  poverty,  43,  44, 
50;  homes  for  dependents  of, 
354-356. 

Old-age  pensions,  356. 

Oliver,  Thomas,  work  by,  122-123 ; 
cited,  129,  190. 

Opium  habit,   90. 

Ordroneaux,  Dr.,  cited,  322. 

Oregon,  hospital  statistics  of,  298- 
301;    insane  in,  319. 

Orphanages,  statistics  of,  264-265; 
children  in,  279-284. 

Orphans  and  half-orphans,  dis- 
tinguishing between,  278. 

Outdoor  relief,  defined,  226;  ad- 
ministration of,  in  United  States, 
226-227,  235,  243;  arguments 
for  and  against,  227-230;  ex- 
perience of  Brooklyn  in,  230- 
232;  of  Indiana,  232-234;  of 
Brookline,  Mass.,  234-235;  rela- 
tion of  private  to  public,  236-241 ; 
history  of,  in  Buffalo,  239-241; 
conclusions  concerning,  242-243. 

Overpopulation  as  a  cause  of  pov- 
erty, 33. 


Painters,  vital  statistics  of,  127. 

Palmer,  Charles  F.,  cited,  SO,  349. 

Pangborn,  Major,  cited,  247. 

Parsons,  railway  statistics  by,  119- 
120. 

Patten,  Simon  N.,  cited,  75;  quoted, 
192. 

Pauperism,  relation  of  intemper- 
ance to,  67  ff. ;  influence  of 
heredity  in  perpetuating,  106- 
114;  and  immigration,  374;  pre- 


vention of,  an  object  of  Charity 
Organization  Society,  455. 

Paupers,  in  almshouses,  27,  56-57, 
196;  marriage  of,  27,  29;  fami- 
lies of,  60-62,  64,  108-110; 
boarding-out  of,   197. 

Pawnbrokers,  91. 

Peabodv,  Dr.  Francis  G.,  371. 

Pear,  W.  H.,  cited,  295. 

Pennsylvania,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-301;  insane  in,  318,  320; 
provisions  for  feeble-minded  in, 
337,  338;  subsidies  to  private 
charities  in,  400;  appropriations 
to  public  and  private  charities 
in,  403. 

Pennsyh^ania  Aid  Society,  271, 
273  n. 

Penology,  college  courses  in,  19. 

Pensions,  to  Civil  War  soldiers, 
4  n. ;    old-age,  356. 

Perkins,  G.  W.,  cited,  135. 

Peterson,  Dr.  Frederick,  on  systems 
of  treating  insane,  332,  347. 

Philadelphia,  treatment  of  tramps 
in,  250. 

Physical  defects  as  cause  of  pov- 
erty, 46,  50. 

Placing-out  method  of  dealing  with 
dependent  children,  286-292. 

Plumbers,  vital  stati-stics  of,  127. 

Police,  morals,  87,  89;  mendi- 
cancy, 252-253. 

Police  departments  and  courts, 
359. 

Political  economists,  theories  of 
English,  concerning  poor-relief, 
10-15;  views  on  factory  legisla- 
tion, 15-17;    errors  of,  18-19. 

Politics  in  charitable  work,  4,  292, 
368-371,  426. 

"Poor-doctors,"   312. 

Poorhouses.     See  Almshouses. 

Poor-laws,  English,  reform  of,  12- 
15. 

Pottery-makers,  vital  statistics  of, 
127,  129. 

Pottery-making,  disease  from,  123 

Poverty.     -See   Causes   of   poverty. 

Powell,"  cited,  340. 

Prevention,  system  of,  359-360. 


INDEX. 


507 


Printers,  vital  statistics  of,  127, 
130;    child  labor  among,   136. 

Prisoners'  children,  projected  home 
for,  395. 

Private  charities,  defined,  377 ; 
motives  leading  to,  377-378; 
Roman  Catholic,  Hebrew,  and 
Protestant,  377-378;  suggested 
discontinuance  of,  by  churches, 
378-379 ;  cooperation  of  churches 
and  Charity  Organization  So- 
cieties, 379—380;  social  prestige  a 
motive  for,  380-381 ;  financier- 
ing methods  in,  381  ff . ;  solicitors 
for,  382;  annual  reports,  circu- 
lars, and  periodicals,  383-384; 
question  of  equal  and  just  dis- 
tribution of,  384;  the  Charities 
Endorsement  Committee,  385 ; 
need  of  business-like  methods  in 
bookkeeping,  management,  and 
legitimate  advertising,  385-386; 
advantages  of,  over  public  chari- 
ties, 386  ff. ;  trust  funds  to  be 
accounted  for,  387;  fraud  and 
imposture  to  be  detected,  387- 
388;  conditions  for  which  best 
fitted,  as  opposed  to  public 
charities,  388;  public  subsidies 
to,  399-419. 

Probation  system  for  drunkards, 
351. 

Professional  men,  vital  statistics  of, 
127,   131. 

Prostitutes  in  almshouses,  205,  220, 
221. 

Prostitution,  83,  84,  85-86;  reme- 
dial measures   regarding,   86-90. 

Protestants,  charities  of,  377-378; 
rivalries  of  Catholics  and,  409- 
410. 

Psvchopathic  hospitals  for  insane, 
332,  334. 

Public  charities,  scope  of  the  term, 
364—365 ;  principle  governing, 
365-366;  advantages  of  public 
support  of  institutions,  366-367 ; 
disadvantages  of  public  charity, 
367-370;  civil  service  system 
and  honor  offices  in,  370-372; 
determination       of       claimants' 


rights  to,  372-374;  centraliza- 
tion of  administration  of,  374; 
officials  in  charge  of  and  em- 
ploj'ees,  374-375 ;  sununing  up  of 
principles  for  administration  of, 
375-376;  private  charities  vs., 
386-388. 

Q 

Quarrymen,    mortality    figures    of, 
129;   child  labor  among,  136. 


R 


Railway  accidents,  118-120. 
Ramazzini,  work  by,  122. 
Reeder,  R.  R.,  on  effect  of  institu- 
tion  life   on   children,   282,   283, 

285,  286. 
Reglementation  of  prostitutes,  86— 

88. 
Religion,  and  charities,  4-10,  377  ff. ; 

influence    of,    regarding   sanctity 

of  human  life,  24. 
Rent  as  a  factor  in  causes  of  pov- 
erty, 33-34. 
Rentoul,  cited,  305. 
Rhode    Island,    hospital    statistics 

of,  298-300;    insane  in,  318. 
Ricci,  work  by,  cited,  9-10. 
Richmond,    Mary    E.,    cited,    404, 

430;    diagram  by,  446-448. 
Riis   Jacob,  cited,  276. 
Ritchie,  cited,  23,  28,   103. 
Roberts,  Peter,  40. 
Roman   Catholic   Orphan   Asylum, 

New  York  City,  280  n. 
Rome,  charities  in  ancient,  4. 
Rooney  family,  81,  106-107. 
Rousseau,  on  state  care  of  children, 

10. 
Rowntree,  B.  S.,  work  and  studies 

of,    40,    67,    117;     cited,    67,    78; 

influence  in  America  of  work  of, 

157. 
Royaltv,   influence  of  heredity  on, 

104-i05. 
Rural  nursing,  316. 
Ruskin,  John,  31. 
Russell,  Sir  John,  16. 
Russell  Sage  Foundation,  398. 


508 


INDEX. 


Russia,  railway  accidents  in,  119. 
Ryan,  John  A.,  cited,  184. 


S 


St.  Agatha  Home,  Brooklyn,  280  n. 

St.  John's  Home,  Brooklyn,  280  n. 

St.  Joseph's  Asylum,  New  York 
City,  280  n. 

St.  Joseph's  Female  Orphan  Asy- 
lum,  Brooklyn,  280  n. 

St.  Joseph's  Home,  Peekskill,  280  n. 

St.  Malachy's  Home,  Brooklyn, 
280  n. 

Salaries  of  charity  workers,  463- 
464. 

Saloonkeepers,  vital  statistics  of, 
126. 

Sanborn,  F.  B.,  cited,  228,  330; 
quoted,  327. 

San  Francisco,  study  of  almshouse 
women  in,  60  n.,  91,  211-212; 
almshouse  conditions  in,  216; 
partisan  politics  interferes  with 
management  of  almshouse  at, 
369. 

Savage,  Dr.,  quoted,  309. 

Scandinavia,  state  relief  work  in, 
8. 

Schools,  backward  and  abnormal 
children  in  public,  344-346. 

Scotland,  boarding-out  of  insane 
in,    329. 

Seclusion  of  insane,  326. 

Sectarian  and  non-sectarian  insti- 
tutions, 409-410. 

Segregation,  of  defectives  and 
dependents,  30-31 ;  of  feeble- 
minded adults,  342-343. 

Seguin  and  Johnson,  cited,  340. 

Selection,  improvement  of  human 
race  by,  20  ff. 

Seligman,  E.  R.,  quoted,  14,  34,  117. 

Senior,  Professor,  12,  15,  19. 

Settlement  laws,  372-374. 

Sexual  instinct,  use  and  abuse  of, 
22. 

Sexual  licentiousness,  81.  See  Im- 
morality. 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of,  cited,  322. 

Sharp,  Dr.  H.  C,  29. 


Sherwell,  cited,  78. 

Shiftlessness   as   cause  of  poverty, 

44,  45,  46,  91-92. 
Shoemakers,     vital     statistics     of, 

126,  127,   129,   130. 
Shopkeepers,     vital     statistics     of, 

127,  131. 

Sickness,  as  cause  of  poverty,  43, 
44,  45,  46 ;   among  negroes,  59. 

Sign  language,  proposed  abandon- 
ment of,  to  certain  extent,  28. 

Simons,  A.  F.,  45  n. 

Single-taxers'  theory  of  cause  of 
poverty,  33-34. 

Sisters,  Catholic,  as  nurses,  314. 

Smith,  Adam,  11. 

Smith,  R.  Mayo-,  cited,  42,  127. 

Smith,  Dr.  Stephen,  cited,  304,  305, 
322. 

Socialists,  explanation  of  poverty 
by,  34. 

Societies  for  the  Improvement  of 
the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  441- 
442. 

Sociology,  departments  of,  in  Amer- 
ican colleges,  19. 

Soldiers'  Homes,  evil  results  of 
idleness  in,  223. 

Solicitors  for  charities,  382. 

South  Australia,  railway  accidents 
in,  119. 

South  Carolina,  hospital  statistics 
of,  298,  300;    insane  in,  318. 

South  Dakota,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298;  insane  in,  319;  provisions 
for  feeble-minded  in,  338. 

Spain,  railway  accidents  in,  119. 

Sparling,  S.  E.,  cited,  430. 

Speculation,  91. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  11,  20. 

Spratling,  Dr.  W.  P.,  cited,  347. 

Standard  of  living  in  United  States, 
161  ff. 

State  Boards  of  Charities,  425  ff . 

State  Charities  Aid  Association, 
New  York,  404,  405,  433-435. 

Sterilization  of  criminals,  29-30. 

Stcuart,    Sir   James,    11. 

Stewart,   W.   R.,   cited,  426. 

Strahan,  Dr.,  cited,  97. 

Students  in  hospitals,  303-305. 


INDEX. 


509 


Subsidies,  to  hospitals,  299-301; 
to  private  charities,  399  ff. ;  argu- 
ments for  and   against,   410  ff. 

Supervision  of  cliarities,  387,  423- 
436. 

Sweatshops,    children   in,    140-141. 

Sweden,  railwa}'  accidents  in,  119. 

Switzerland,  railway  accidents  in, 
119. 

Syphilis,  a  legal  bar  to  marriage,  29 ; 
ravages  of,  83. 


Tailors,  vital  statistics  of,  126,  127, 
130. 

Talmud,  quotation  from,  5. 

Tasmania,  railway  accidents  in, 
118,  119. 

Tatham,  Dr.  John,  cited,  128,  145. 

Temper  as  cause  of  poverty,  43,  44. 

Tenement-house  Department,  New 
York,  186. 

Tennessee,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;    insane  in,   319. 

Texas,  hospital  statistics  of,  298- 
300;    insane  in,   319. 

Textile  industries,  disease  among 
employees  in,  124. 

Textile  workers,  vital  statistics  of, 
127,  129;  child  labor  among, 
136. 

Thurnam,  Dr.,  on  curability  of  the 
insane,  331. 

Tower,   E.,  cited,   198. 

Trades  unions,  118. 

Tramps,  effect  of  premature  labor 
(child  labor)  on,  142;  in  alms- 
houses, 205,  214,  220-221 ;  world- 
wide problem  of,  246-247;  num- 
ber of,  in  United  States,  247; 
four  ways  of  dealing  with,  247- 
250;  programme  presented  for 
dealing  with,  251-252;  municipal 
lodging-houses  for,  254^255; 
reasons  for,  256-257.  See  Un- 
employed. 

Trevelyan,  Sir  Charles,  report  by, 
341. 

Tuberculosis,  as  cause  of  defective 
children,  98,  99,  100;   prevalence 


of,  among  laboring  classes,  133- 
134;  caused  by  dusty  occupa- 
tions, 134-135;  other  causes  of, 
135;    sanatoria  for  treating,  357. 

Tucker,  Frank,  cited,  307. 

Turgot,  quotation  from,  395. 


U 

Uhlhorn,  J.  G.  W.,  cited,  377. 

Unemploj^ed,  classifications  of,  245- 
246;  reasons  for  existence  of, 
256-257;  methods  of  relief  for, 
257-262. 

"Unemployed,  The,"  Alden's,  262. 

Unemployment,  deterioration  from, 
92,  145-147. 

Union  Temporary  Home,  Phila- 
delphia, 275. 

United  Hebrew  Charities,  380. 

United  States,  railway  accidents  in, 
119. 

Unpaid  boards  of  officers,  370-371, 
426,  460. 

Unpaid  visitors,  371. 

Utah,  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 
300,  301;  statistics  of  insane  in, 
319. 


Vacant  Lots  Cultivation  Associa- 
tion, Philadelphia,  262. 

Vagrancy,  246. 

Vagrants  in  almshouses,  205,  214, 
220-221.     See  Tramps. 

Vendidad,  quotation  from,  5. 

Venereal  diseases,  29,  83-90;  hos- 
pitals for  treatment  of,  356. 

Vermont,  hospital  statistics  of,  298, 
300;  insane  in,  318;  subsidies  to 
private  charities  in,  400. 

Victoria,  railway  accidents  in,  118, 
119. 

Village  plan  for  epileptics,  348. 

Virginia,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;  insane  in,  318;  provi- 
.sions  for  feeble-minded  in,  338. 

Visiting,  friendly,  6,  371-372,  452- 
453. 

Visiting  nurses,  314-316,  357. 


510 


INDEX. 


Visitors,  women,  of  almshouses, 
213;    boards  of  volunteer,  371. 

Vital  statistics  of  certain  occupa- 
tions, 126-137. 

W 

Wage,  a  fair-living,  184. 

Wage-earners,  economic  value  of, 
115-117. 

Walker,  Francis  A.,  quoted,  12. 

Ward,  cited,  91. 

Warne,  Frank  J.,  quoted,- 145. 

Warner,  Amos,  references  to,  22- 
23,  42,  75,  76. 

Washington,  State  of,  hospital 
statistics  of,  298,  300;  insane 
in,  319;  provisions  for  feeble- 
minded in,  338. 

Watson,  figures  by,  132-133. 

Wayfarers'  Lodges,  Boston  and 
Philadelphia,  250. 

Weaver,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  L.,  work 
of,  in  San  Francisco  almshouse, 
216  n.,  223;  false  charges  against 
and  removal  of,  369. 

Weavers,  vital  statistics  of,  126. 

Webb,  Sidney,  quoted,  143. 

Weismann,  Professor,  21. 

Weller,  C.  F.,  45  n. 

West  Virginia,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;  insane  in,  318;  provi- 
sions for  feeble-minded  in,  338. 

White,  Andrew  D.,  cited,  325  n. 

Willard  Asylum,  327. 

Willoughby,  W.  F.,  cited,  425. 

Wilson,  G.  R.,  quoted,  74;  cited, 
80,  349,  350. 


Wines,  F.  H.,  101. 

Wisconsin,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298-300;  statistics  of  insane  in, 
319;  care  of  insane  in,  328-329; 
provisions  for  feeble-minded  in, 
338;    politics  in  public  charities 

'  of,  368-369. 

Women,  in  San  Francisco  alms- 
houses, 60  n.,  91,  211-212,  216  n., 
223;  intemperance  among,  69; 
small  number  who  are  sexual  per- 
verts, 85;  labor  by,  a  cause  of 
degeneration,  144;  homes  for 
feeble-minded  and  fallen,  353. 

Woods,  F.  A.,  study  in  heredity  of 
royalty  by,  103,  104-105. 

Wood  yards  for  unemployed,  254- 
255. 

Work  test,  in  almshouses,  222-224 ; 
applied  to  tramps,  250. 

Wyoming,  hospital  statistics  of, 
298,  300;    insane  in,  319. 


Yates,  Governor,  369. 
Yeggmen,  252. 

York,    Rowntree's    studies    in,    40, 
157,  158-159,  188-189. 


Zeller,  Dr.  George  A.,  on  restraint 
and  seclusion  of  the  insane,  326- 
327. 

Zinc-workers,  comparative  mor- 
tality of,  129. 


\ 


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